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GEORGETOWN FIRE
DEPARTMENT
The Georgetown Fire Dept. operates four fire stations and a headquarters:
816 S.
Main St
This is headquarters, housing, administration, operations, training and
safety, and the Fire Museum.
1. 301 Industrial Ave.
This
station has a battalion command unit; a quint
(Ladder truck), a tanker truck, an attack vehicle (four wheel drive
used in rough terrain), and houses a reserve quint.
2. 204 W. Central Drive
Equipment:
1 engine (pumper)
1 Rescue truck
1 Haz
Mat truck
1 Fire Boat
3. 5 Texas Drive (Sun City)
Our
station has an engine, an attack vehicle, an education trailer, and a reserve
quint.
4. 4200 Airport Road
This
station has a quint and an attack truck.
There are three more fire stations in various stages of planning. The
next to open will be somewhere in the Shell Road area. Another is
planned for the Cowan Creek area of Sun City and the final one for the area
near the new high school.
All fire stations are manned by three shifts of firefighters who are on duty
24 hours and off 48. Ideally there are 22 personnel on duty each shift,
but because of vacations, sick leave, etc., they currently average 16
firefighters per shift.
In addition to their fire fighting duties, fire fighters:
1. Respond to medical emergency calls along
with Williamson County EMS.
2. Respond to Haz Mat
calls.
3. Test all fire hydrants at least once per
year.
4. Provide and install smoke detectors and
install batteries for those unable to do so.
5. Provide CPR training.
6. Test for carbon monoxide.
7. Provide safety training in the schools.
In addition to the above, the Department is responsible for the Knox Box Program.
A Knox Box is a heavy metal box that is attached to a structure and contains
the keys to the building. The Department maintains a master key on fire fighting equipment that is in a secure
container. The firefighter accessing this key must enter a code.
The name of the person removing the key, as well as the time the key was
removed and returned, is recorded electronically. Currently Knox Boxes
are mandatory for commercial facilities. The Department is beginning a
pilot program here in Sun City to install Knox Boxes on residences. The
approximate cost of the box is $150-$200. Those installing the box will
be able to put medical information, as well as keys to the house in the box.
A concrete recognition of the effectiveness of our Fire Department is the
rating given by the Insurance Service Office. A very practical use of
this rating is that most insurance companies use this rating as one factor in
determining the premium we pay. At the latest rating, Georgetown was
moved from a class 4 to a class 2. Only 65 of the 600 Texas cities have
a class 2 rating. As a result, many of us should see a premium
reduction in our homeowners insurance.
We can all be very proud of our Fire Department.
Next week the session covers Georgetown Utility Systems - Aministration, Transportation Services, Environmental
Services and Safe Place. Watch for a synopsis of these important city
functions.
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