AUSTIN (KXAN) – Williamson County Emergency Services District Nine surprised the Round Rock Fire Department’s Wildland Team with new equipment on Tuesday.
The wildland team specializes in fighting wildfires in Round Rock, whose work has become especially relevant with wildfires in recent months. Continuing drought conditions could increase the risk of wildfires this summer according to RRFD.
Round Rock Fire Chief Shane Glaiser said wildfires are more common in the area than people might think, and many of the fires the wildland team responds to require specialized gear.
“If you look around there are lots of greenbelts, just some of the retention ponds, some of them are easy to get to with our normal brush trucks,” he said. “When you get to the hike and bike trails, we are really limited on what we can get back there.”
To respond to these fires, Williamson County officials surprised the wildland team with a Polaris Utility Task Wildlands vehicle that can hold 75 gallons of water and reach areas unreachable for firetrucks. Firefighters also received a purpose-built command center trailer and a specialized truck for responding to wildfires.
“It is like a kid in a candy store where we get this to open up our present,” Glaiser said on receiving this equipment.
“When we retire this set, it looks just as good as it does today,” he said. “It’s a way of showing respect to the citizens and their taxpaying dollars that that we put it to good use.”
