Williamson County Emergency Services District No. 8 (ESD 8) advocates for residents in and around the Georgetown area to ensure they receive fire, medical and emergency services.
ESD 8 and the City of Georgetown Fire Department operate jointly through a collaborative partnership that uses a shared network of fire stations and operational resources to provide these services.
In the state of Texas, emergency service districts (ESDs) are established to provide a means to fund emergency services to suburban, rural, and unincorporated areas. ESDs receive and disburse tax revenue to cover emergency services for residents in its jurisdiction.
Our Community
Through its partnership with ESD 8, the Georgetown Fire Department provides service to 132,000+ residents.
Our Work
Our mission is to provide fire protection, rescue, and emergency services to our community. We provide a caring service that is indiscriminate and genuine to keep our residents safe with quick responses to fires, medical emergencies, accidents, and dangerous situations 24/7.
List of Services
We respond to several types of emergencies.
Within the ESD and City, we average 40 responses per day and responded nearly 15,000 emergencies over the past 12 months.
In addition to responding to several emergency incidents, we also identify opportunities for community outreach and public education to reduce risks and enhance safety for our community.
- Child car seat inspections
- Fire extinguisher trainings
- Introduce the community to Koda, our public education lieutenant
- Demonstrations to Georgetown schools
- Fire station tours
RESPONSE TIMES
We all need oxygen to survive, and each minute that a person is not breathing results in a decreased chance of survival. After nine minutes, without oxygen, brain death can become irreversible.
Once a fire starts, get out immediately. A small flame can turn into a major fire in less than 30 seconds. A home fire can double in size every minute. In three minutes, a fire can burn so hot that it ignites everything at once (a flashover).
Seconds count when it comes to emergency services, and it is easy to overlook the factors that influence our ability to get to your home. The following gives a brief overview so that you can better understand where and why “9 minutes.”
Alarm Processing
Goal: 1 minute
The time it takes to receive an alarm at a primary public-safety answer point (PSAP) to when it is transmitted to emergency services.
+ Turnout time
Goal: 2 minutes
The time interval from being notified of an emergency to travel time.
+ Travel time
Goal: 6 minutes
The amount of time it takes for emergency services to arrive at the scene.
= Total Response Time
Goal: 9 minutes total
The amount of time it takes from being notified of an emergency to arriving at the scene.
GROWTH
Georgetown has seen tremendous population and commercial growth. With this growth, the number of calls the district responds to has increased substantially.
With much of Georgetown’s recent population growth occurring in the City’s ETJ and other unincorporated areas, ESD 8 works to ensure everyone receives consistent and reliable service.
OUR FUTURE
Without a properly-funded ESD, emergency services will be compromised. Response times will increase, and the level of service will be more varied across the City and unincorporated areas.
We operate with just five ambulances daily, oftentimes falling short due to high demand. As demand grows, our current fleet is insufficient to meet emergency need, jeopardizing our reliability.
Additional resources are necessary to improve response times and reinforce ESD 8’s commitment to serving the community quickly and safely.
Our goal is to continue to provide fire and emergency services for our growing community.
- Add more fire stations
- Add more staff
- Additional resources including fire trucks, EMS vehicles, water rescue equipment
