Firefighter feud: Williamson Co. VFD says vote could disband them, increase response times

The Avery-Pickett Volunteer Fire Department (APVFD) said a vote at this week's Taylor City Council meeting would eventually disband the department.

TAYLOR, Texas (KXAN) — The Avery-Pickett Volunteer Fire Department (APVFD) said a discussion item at this week's Taylor City Council meeting is the first sign that it could be disbanded. This comes two years after rebuilding after its former fire chief was arrested and charged with stealing over $300,000.

APVFD's fire chief said if the vote is approved, personnel from Williamson County Emergency Service District (ESD) No. 10 based in Coupland would respond to calls in his department's service area.

He said this could increase response times to around 40 minutes for some parts of Taylor. We have reached out to the City of Taylor to dispute this claim but have not yet received a response.

The chief said this proposal is a slap in the face to volunteers that stayed on despite heavy scrutiny following the November 2021 arrest of former fire chief Billy Dale Hughes Jr.

According to Williamson County court records, Hughes will face pre-trial court proceedings next month.

Video sparks interest online

A video from an independent consultant APVFD asked to make about its concerns has been making rounds on social media this week.

KXAN reached out to Williamson County about the video and claims made in it - Chris Connealy, senior director of Emergency Services for Williamson County provided this statement:

"Williamson County Emergency Communications utilizes a Computer Assisted Dispatch (CAD) software that sends that jurisdiction where the incident occurs. A number of the fire departments have initiated auto-aid agreements that get programmed into our CAD to also send those neighboring fire departments with auto-aid agreements to that incident when it is initially dispatched. Avery Pickett VFD does not have any auto-aid agreements, but they can request mutual aid from fire departments they request and the County dispatchers will send those departments if they are available to assist. Additionally, other fire departments in the County that do not have auto-aid agreements, would do the same thing and request mutual aid.

Bottom line, Williamson County Emergency Communications does not determine what fire departments to assist the jurisdiction. It is either predetermined with auto-aid agreements or send mutual aid assistance based on what that fire department requests."

Chris Connealy, senior director of Emergency Services

KXAN also reached out to the City of Taylor about APVFD's claims. We are waiting to hear back from the city.