2022 Washington County Magazine

Emergency Services Agencies providing emergency services in Washington County have a long-standing tradition of innovation in response to serving and protecting.

Whether responding to a situation or dispatching public safety personnel to the scene, the leaders of these agencies often look to the past to ensure the community is served well in an emergency. Each agency strives to employ positive, conscientious role models for the community that they serve. In some remote areas of the county, initial fi e response is provided by highly skilled and trained volunteers living in the service area. These Washington County agencies have a reputation of working together through partnerships and interlocal agreements, so those in need receive the best level of care to ensure local tax dollars are spent efficie ly.

The oldest public safety entity in Washington County is the Brenham Fire Department was established on June 10, 1867 to protect against fi e, and secretly act as a military organization to protect the lives and property of citizens from Union soldiers stationed in the are during the Reconstruction era. In May 1879, the Brenham Fire Department became the proud owner of a new Silsby Steam Engine, which could pump 600 gallons of water per minute onto a fi e. It was designed to be drawn by hand of by horse.

This historically preserved engine now sits in a special exhibit next door the Brenham Heritage museum, located at 105 S. Market St. in downtown Brenham. More of the early history of the Brenham Fire Department can be discovered in the downtown pocket park, Toubin Park.

The most recent addition to the public safety arsenal serving Washington County is the EMS's partnership to bring one of the few multi-mission helicopters rescue programs in the nation to Washington County. The aircraft is an Airbus EC145 with hoist rescue capability, fi e suppression capabilities, and critical care patient transport capability. This is the largest twin-engine, dual patient, IFR rated aircraft in the region and only the second multi-mission program in the State of Texas. The program has local governmental oversight, local medical direction, and county employed staff as fli ht paramedics and rescue crew chiefs. The collaborative partnership was a concept created with REACH Air Medical, LLC who is the FAA operator of the aircraft.

Those living in our traveling through Washington County should feel safe knowing that there are innovative care service providers and response agencies working collaboratively to serve.