Hollywood Park honors Eagle Scout and fire department updates hydrants, safety outreach

Hollywood Park officials on Nov. 18 recognized an Eagle Scout-led project that repainted a large share of the town’s fire hydrants and heard routine updates from the fire chief.

Chief Burnside opened department reports with a brief fire-safety public service message focused on turkey-fryer safety, telling residents to keep fryers at least 15 feet from structures, fully thaw turkeys and keep a fire blanket ready. He followed with the department’s October activity report: 58 total responses, including 29 EMS calls (about 20 ALS-level calls) and five motor-vehicle accidents, plus 10 mutual-aid responses to neighboring providers.

Burnside highlighted community outreach in October and November — fire-prevention visits to day cares and Halloween events — and announced promotions: Jimmy Garcia to lieutenant and Andrew Flores to fire engineer, selected from seven internal candidates. He also said full-time firefighter Jace Rodriguez will leave at month’s end for a full-time position with Bexar County Emergency Service District 2.

The council presented an award to Paul and his volunteers for repainting roughly two-thirds of Hollywood Park’s hydrants as part of an Eagle Scout project. Paul told the council SAWS provided more than $1,000 in supplies and that about 40 volunteers contributed roughly 170 service hours across two days. Chief Burnside explained hydrant color differences, noting older hydrants are yellow with green caps and newer ones are silver; he said SAWS provided paint, tools and on-site staff during the project.

Burnside closed by reminding residents not to repaint hydrants themselves and thanked volunteers and partner agencies for their contributions. The chief invited council questions and clarified SAWS’ role as the water purveyor that supplied materials and on‑site assistance.

The council moved on after the department report with no formal action recorded on the hydrant project.