On Saturday, September 22, 2012, TEXSAR deployed two teams to support the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management (GCOEM). The teams worked with Harris County Hazmat, Galveston Fire Department (GFD), The HELP Foundation and the Galveston Port Authority Police Department (GPAPD). The teams participated in the Incident Support Team to provide detection and observation during the commission of the USS Fort Worth and other events in the Port Authority area. Harris County Hazmat...
Contact: Mackenzie Kelly Phone: 512-931-4746 Email: mackenzie.kelly@texsar.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE H-E-B PROVIDES GRANT TO TEXSAR IN SUPPORT OF WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING GEAR Austin, Texas, Thursday, September 6, 2012 –H-E-B presented TEXSAR with a check for $6,875 to support TEXSAR’s Wild land Firefighting Gear program. “The donation from our partners at H-E-B demonstrates the commitment to the communities they serve,” Greg Pyles, C.E.O. of TEXSAR, stated, “These critical funds enable our team to be ready to respond when our firefighter partners require assistance.” The...
Monday, September 3, 2012 — TEXSAR team members Greg Pyles, Shawn Hohnstreiter, Will Boettner, Chance Berry, Andy Anthony, Melissa Frederick, and Connor Byer returned home to Austin, Texas after their most recent deployment lasting 5 days. TEXSAR Team members left August 30th and worked thru September 2nd, working directly with residents that were affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac in Louisiana. Team members worked in Slidell, St. Bernard Parish, and Braithwaite. During one of several missions, the team helped Dr. Christy Graves, a...
TEXSAR held training at Russel Park on Lake Georgetown over the weekend. The team held exercises covering Search and Rescue elements including navigation, grid searches, clue detection, patient packaging and extraction, communications, water rescue, and Incident Command. All-volunteer group trains in rescues: kxan.com ...
TEXSAR members CR Thomas and Brandon Goering completed the ICS All-Hazards Planning Section Chief course in Waco this week facilitated by the Texas Forestry Service. The instructors had decades of experience in incident management, and the class was comprised of very skilled emergency response professionals from across the state. This training is a great asset to TEXSAR’s Incident Management Team. ...
On Sunday June 24, 2012 TEXSAR team members assisted the Heart of The Pines volunteer fire department in Bastrop County. This was a work day event to help organize the fire stations on Highway 71 and the Cottletown station. Our team members cleaned and organized equipment and fire gear to assist the fire department members as they continue to recover. The Labor Day fires of 2011 destroyed the station at Coddle Town, much of the department’s equipment and many of...
On Saturday June 23, 2012 two TEXSAR Master CERT Instructors taught a Search and Rescue class for the 2012 City of Austin Department of Homeland Security’s summer class. The class was well attended and covered CERT actions during responses to neighborhood based disasters. CERT members are trained to assist their neighbors and communities during the initial response to area disasters and incidents. Mackenzie Kelly and Greg Pyles are the only certified CERT Master Instructors in the Capital Area Council of...
The Bastrop Heart Of The Pines Volunteer Fire Department has made a significant commitment to provide TEXSAR with donations of equipment, a vehicle and training for our wildland fire team members! These are the same folks that lost many of their homes and much of their equipment during the Labor Day fires of 2011. We look forward to providing them with training, SAR and disaster response resources in the future. These are terrific people and hard working volunteers. ...
Last week the Travis County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team made a significant contribution of equipment and supplies to TEXSAR! It took two pick-ups to load it all. There are enough supplies that we may likely be able to share some items with some of our partner teams! TEXSAR is grateful for both the donation and the growing relationship with the Dive team members. We are working on a date to exercise with them soon!! ...
On June 12 two of our TEXSAR members graduated as Master Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Instructors. This will allow TEXSAR to provide training to new CERT Instructors throughout Texas for both Adult and Teen CERT programs. Mackenzie Kelly and Greg Pyles were two of only nine CERT Instructors from across the State selected to take this training. They were the only graduates from the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) Region. The training was provided by CAPCOG, North Central Texas...
