Fire chief reports higher spring fire activity, adds firefighters and offers mutual‑aid update

Alice Fire Chief Patrick Thomas presented the department’s second‑quarter statistics and staffing update to the council, reporting a rise in fire‑related calls tied to a March storm, recent hires, equipment acquisitions and a mutual‑aid deployment to assist a central Texas area.

Thomas said the quarter was busy and that March’s severe weather drove a cluster of calls and hazardous‑condition incidents. The department added four firefighters in the quarter; those hires are undergoing onboarding training and are expected to be on shift shortly, Thomas said. The chief also said the department is testing for additional hires (three vacancies) and is revamping its CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training schedule to spread training over multiple weeks to reduce conflicts for volunteers and staff.

Mutual aid and equipment Chief Thomas said the department responded to a request from the State Operations Center to send a crew and a TIFMA strike team to Kerr County/Kerrville in central Texas; the deployment is being done under the state reimbursement process. Thomas described the deployment as reciprocal assistance — the same mutual‑aid support Alice received during its own storm response.

Equipment and grants Thomas reported recent grants brought new air‑monitoring equipment and that the city recently received a county‑ordered brush truck. He said the department is preparing the new apparatus and equipment for service.

Council follow‑up Councilmembers asked for details on EMS breakdowns and county reimbursement procedures; Thomas and staff said they will provide additional data and confirmed that the department tracks county calls and responses separately in the monthly reports.

Provenance: second‑quarter fire activity, staffing, mutual aid and equipment report by Fire Chief Patrick Thomas.