This morning's fire.

12:45 a.m. and off goes the radio, "Attention all Brackettville volunteer fire fighters, there is a possible grassfire on 693 and Standard Lane." Or something to that effect. Probably won't fill you in on the details until later today. BVFD returned from the fire around 3:45 a.m.


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There are often fires on Standard Lane as the railraod runs along it and trains frequently spark fires. It was dry and HOT today.

Ownership of BVFD trucks.

Brackettville Volunteer Fire Department owns its fire trucks. These links, Unit 25 and Unit 23, will take you to documents showing that the trucks were given directly to BVFD, not to the City. So Matt Bland, Brackettville's Mayor Pro Tem, can try all he wants to give our trucks to Kinney County Fire & Rescue but unless he can produce some documentation showing that we signed our trucks over to the City of Brackettville in an official city council meeting and that we followed proper procedure in order to be able to give the trucks away, then we believe that Mr. Bland is spinning his wheels.

Don't know what we're talking about? Here it is short and sweet. The Mayor Pro Tem of Brackettville wants to help the new, paid/volunteer county run fire & rescue department get established by giving them our trucks. The trucks have been in the City's name for years for insurance purposes only. The City did not buy the trucks. BVFD did not give them the trucks.

This agreement between BVFD and the City was hashed out in city council meetings years ago and, really, it should be documented somewhere at City Hall. But City Hall records are a shambles because of a past city secretary who had a few things to hide. This is not Mr. Bland's fault yet, we must ask, before you cripple a fire department and render it incapable of providing fire protection in your community, shouldn't you make sure you can legally do what you're trying to do and, also, do everything in your power to make sure that those trucks will be fighting fires immediately after being given to the new fire department with no lapse in fire protection in your community?

Today's Fire

BVFD rolled with two trucks to a fire reportedly a mile from the Maverick county line on 277. This information proved to be incorrect, the fire was much closer to the border and perhaps even on the other side of it. BVFD was called off the fire, although they were nearly there and maybe already there--not sure on that yet.

Out here in the open country of Brackettville, TX, smoke from the highway can be very deceiving. From the road, it's very hard to guestimate a fire's source.