100+ crashes in 24 hours: Austin first responders work during icy conditions
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Dozens of crashes kept first responders extra busy Thursday as ice covered the roads across Central Texas.
The Austin Fire Department said iced-over, elevated roadways created dangerous conditions.
"We saw over the last 24 hours over 100 collisions that we responded to," said Brandon Wade, assistant chief of operations with the AFD.
On Thursday morning, Austin-Travis County EMS responded to 40 collisions; 13 of them were rollovers.
"We did see an uptick in traffic injuries as people got up to go to work," said Wesley Hopkins, interim assistant chief with Austin-Travis County EMS.
Both departments are actively hiring. AFD has about 100 vacancies, and ATCEMS said it is looking to fill positions as well. KXAN asked how many vacancies the department has but has not heard back yet.
"Some of those have been through retirements," Hopkins said. "The others have been through enhancements in the budget as we get more ambulances, and as we grow, that creates more vacancies."
With so many calls coming in and so many open positions, were response times affected?
"That does put a strain on the resources," said Wade. "Fortunately with Austin Fire, we have a lot of stations and the resources to go and send."
"A lot of times if there were no injuries, then those first responders were able to cancel the ambulance and that frees them up for the normal calls we might run even though it is inclement weather," said Hopkins.
While both departments were busy Thursday, they said they had no problems getting to the calls they received.
Over in Hays County, the Kyle Fire Department told us it responded to two crashes.
They are looking to fill positions as Kyle continues to grow.
"That is the biggest thing," said Fire Chief Kyle Taylor. "It is keeping up with the population growth. On average, you need one station per 10,000 people, and we are covering 75 to 85,000 people out of three stations."
AFD and ATCEMS are working to decrease call times across Austin, not just during winter weather events.
They currently have plans to add a new station near the Pennybacker Bridge near Westlake Drive.
There will be four firefighters, one EMT and one paramedic on site at all times. Currently the response time goal is eight minutes.
"We have seen that area with response times with an average up to 12 and a half minutes," said Wade.
"So, if that ambulance is out on a call or taking someone to the hospital, the gap for coverage in this area only gets larger," said Hopkins.
The Austin Police Department told us it has 185 vacancies.