The weather has been hot and the pace for law enforcement has been just as hot. We have seen a record number of calls for service coming into dispatch, as the heat continues to effect everything in our county. The past week, we have seen EMS, Fire and Police personnel jumping from call to call. We have again had a busy week in the jail and expect it to get even busier as the heat wave continues to hang on here in Central Texas.

The large fire that happened on FM 500 at Spring Creek this past weekend was a prime example of how well this county responds to an emergency. The fire was moving and growing very fast and if not for the quick action of our local fire departments and some of our own citizens, we could have easily lost some homes and our tabernacle as well. I saw over and over again, individuals from this community jump in front when help was needed, never ask a question and do the dirtiest jobs around without worrying about who was watching.

Zane Weyerts unloaded his own equipment and began to fight the fire around the tabernacle while his wife Kristy assisted with placing additional units in the right area as they arrived on scene. Their two boys Tye and Tanner grabbed traffic vests and red flags and did what they could to slow traffic through the smoke and then unloaded supplies.

Mike Eden, who works with TxDot and is on the San Saba Fire Department, operates heavy equipment at his job, he jumped on the first maintainer there and cut the first wide fire line around some of the structures and was a big reason some of the houses were saved.

Yet, there was more than fire fighting going on behind the scenes, once the additional units began to arrive on scene and the numbers of firemen grew, supplies were needed. The call went out for assistance and it was answered in a big way. Diane Wood, Mindy Kraft and Amy Morgan arrived with supplies from town and began to fill up the staging area with food, water and ice. Now, I can't name all the businesses who pitched in or churches and civic groups who donated food and water, but I can tell you, there was a lot. Numerous individuals were making sandwiches and buying fruit and those who could drive were taking it to staging areas or to the jail.

San Saba EMS primary was on scene for medical assistance, but that is not all they did. Wymond Kraft, who is our local EMS coordinator was given additional assignments, one being air to ground communications officer. Kraft made sure that the incident commander was in constant communications with those boys in the air dumping the water and spotting the fire. Those of you who know Kraft, know he is a man of few words and thus was perfect for that job. When Kraft said, "You might want to duck now," then everyone took him serious and ducked. His partner that day on the ambulance was new to San Saba but fit right in. Dan Haskin works full time for EMS, but he passed out food and water, checked vitals on fire fighters and I watched him pick up trash around the command post.

I ran into John Stewardson later that day and he had loaded a water trailer and was heading out to the fire to do what he could to help. I can't name everyone I saw that day, doing so many unselfish acts but I can tell you this, it is good to live in a county with so many individuals who put away all their petty gripes and complaints to come out and help each other in an emergency. I heard a commissioner from Brownwood say something and it filled me with pride. He could not believe the "heart of this community." Thank you all so much for everything you did and will continue to do in our times of need.

Just a couple of small things, we are asking for your help with individuals who are dumping trash on the side of the roads. Please call this in and we will pay them a not so friendly visit. This is one of the dumbest crimes that we deal with and we will put them in jail for it.

The other thing is, please make sure that your loads are secure when hauling items down the road. Objects falling from vehicles that have glass in them can start a fire along our roadways and lead to big trouble. Please slow down and drive friendly, accidents happen but we can prevent a lot of them if we just slow down. Keep your eyes open and watch out for your neighbors and report anything suspicious to the Sheriff's Office right away.

Once again, we want to thank you for all of your information and all of your assistance. Please contact us at 325-372-5551 or 5432 if you need assistance and 911 for an emergency. Thank you so much for all the prayers and we hope that a cold front is on the way.