Tarrant ESD 1 Commissioner’s Corner – January 2025

Initially, Tarrant ESD 1 sends our prayers and condolences to those impacted by the tragedy that is unfolding before our eyes in the LA Basin Fires. At the time of writing this article, the Pacific Palisades, Hurst, Eaton, Lidia, Woodley, and Sunset Fires are days old and still minimally contained and have devastated 62 square miles. Confirmed loss of human life stands at 24 with an additional 16 people currently listed as Missing – the death toll will probably go much, much higher!

The Palisades and Eaton fires have burned 12,000 structures, so far. Countless families have had their lives forever altered by the loss of their homes, cars, photographs, possessions, and memories of their life. Property and economic impact damages for all fires are estimated at $130 to $150 Billion and rising. The dramatic loss of life by pets and wildlife will probably never be fully known.

We have already heard stories of the heroics of first responders who have saved lives rushing towards and INTO the inferno while others ran the other way. BUT, we have also heard stories about the failures of fire protection infrastructure: Fire Hydrants without water, Water Tankers with no source of resupply, mass evacuations without traffic control, streets so clogged by abandoned cars that bulldozers had to clear a path for firetrucks. Some of this failure was a direct result of defunding the fire services in LA County. In fairness, the sheer magnitude and speed of the fire was probably enough to overwhelm even the most resilient and well-built infrastructure. The LA County Fire Chief said they had thousands of houses on fire at the same time and that a “proper response” would have required far more fire trucks and firemen than exist in the entire state.

Tarrant ESD 1 is committed to learning the lessons from the tragedy in the LA Basin and doing our utmost to provide our first responders the tools and support they deserve to ensure this tragedy isn’t repeated in Tarrant County.

With that in mind, Tarrant ESD 1 put out a call for candidates to be the first Executive Director. We receive 24 responses from Fire & EMS professionals from Tarrant County, Texas, and several other states. A Committee made up of two ESD commissioners and 3 Tarrant County Fire Chiefs are working thru a review and selection process under the guidance of our acting Executive Directors (Chief Watson and President Jack of Parker County ESD1). We hope to have a person hired by our February Meeting.

The Executive Director will be responsible and accountable to the ESD Board and Unincorporated Tarrant County Taxpayers to develop the infrastructure, plans, and policies necessary to ensure this tragedy doesn’t happen here.