Government
BY ANNA MANESS
In 2024, the Georgetown Fire Department received 16,978 calls for service—an 18% increase from 2023. In five years, officials expect calls to almost double, Georgetown Fire Chief John Sullivan said. The GFD and Williamson County Emergency Services District provide services to the greater Georgetown area. Combined, the two entities serve 140,000 people, Sullivan said. “We can’t do that necessarily with the same number of resources,” Sullivan said at a February 25 city council meeting. With five total ambulances, Sullivan said data shows officials have anywhere from a 20%-60% chance of running out of Fire Chief plans for growth
Looking ahead
20%-60% chance of having no available ambulances throughout the week 17-minute fire and EMS response time in the ETJ, 14 minutes within the city
Ideally, the department will use a phased approach over the next 5-10 years to add additional stations when needed, Sullivan said. If the city reaches a population of 210,000 by 2030, two additional fire stations would allow for 23,000 people to be served per station, Sullivan said. Since 2020, the department has also struggled with staffing shortages and hiring challenges, Sullivan said. Now, Sullivan said they’re attempting to bring in people with limited experience to have a more diverse workforce. “We’re now in a much better spot,” Sullivan said. Moving forward, Sullivan said he expects to lose about 10 people per year due to retirements, attrition and other factors.
29,624 calls for service expected in 2030
CITY OF GEORGETOWN/COMMUNITY IMPACT
ambulances throughout the week. “This isn’t unique to just Georgetown,” Sullivan said. “This is happening in the entire region where ambulances—[there’s] not enough of them to care for the 911 calls.” Since 2023, EMS demand is up by 9%, Sullivan said. Additionally, the demand is growing faster than Georgetown’s population growth, which is in part due to the city’s senior population, he said. Sullivan said the department has a nine minute response time goal because of the risks of brain damage or fire growth. Out of the 13,590 emergent response calls, he said 3,959 exceeded nine minutes.
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