Saturday, September 6th, both dispatchers got extremely lightheaded, dizzy, and nauseous. They started feeling sleepy. They knew something was wrong. They let the deputies know.
The deputies went over to the jail and immediately identified an odor. They called Atmos Energy out to investigate. Atmos Energy identified a really bad gas leak but could not pinpoint where the leak was coming from. With that building having pipes going all throughout it, it could have been anywhere. The building is 140 years old.
They immediately turned the gas off at the meter. The only thing used for gas is the oven, so it didn’t affect the workings of the jail.
They tried to ventilate the jail as much as possible. All the doors were opened.All of this happened around 7 p.m. Saturday night.
The dispatchers continued to feel ill, so the Sheriff’s Office went ahead and had EMS dispatched over to them. They were told they needed to give it some time, and if they continued to feel symptoms, they were instructed to go to advanced medical care.
After a 12-hour shift on Saturday, one of those dispatchers came back to work on Sunday, to fill in for someone else. However, she was still feeling ill. The Sheriff’s Office went ahead and had her transported by EMS. The hospital admitted her for testing. She was told she was just going to have to wait it out. And… she was back at work on Monday.
As of Monday, both of dispatchers who were exposed to the gas leak on Saturday were still feeling nauseous, lightheaded and sleepy.
Timeline
Saturday, they evacuated the jail for the gas leak.
Sunday, they vacated the jail, and is it no longer being used. The Judge and Commissioners requested that no one enter the building unless under very specific guidelines and it’s not advised.
Efforts are still being made to ventilate the building, but it is still not safe. The building is very old and has many problems.
What if we have an emergency?
The Sheriff wants everyone to know - They are still here for you to serve and protect you! When you call 911, a surrounding county may answer, but San Saba County will receive the notification from the answering county, and San Saba County Sheriff’s Office will still dispatch out the required service.
Business will go on as usual as far as the public is concerned.
For our first responders, there is just a slight change in how the information is relayed to them.
If you have an emergency, please call 911. If you cannot get through, call the non-emergency line: (325) 372-5551.
Does that mean no arrests will be made?
No. Our county has agreements with other counties in the district to house inmates. Because of Jail Standards, we cannot just house inmates anywhere in the county. Because of that, the San Saba Sheriff’s Office is having to transport all to other district counties for housing, booking, and holding: Mills County, Lampasas County, McCulloch County, and Burnett County. Currently, they are also working on possibly getting assistance from other surrounding counties.
Sheriff Jenkins is in close communication with the Texas Municipal Police Association as well as surrounding county sheriffs to make sure everything is running smoothly and legally.
He is also working as diligently as possible with the Commissioners and other governing powers to see what can be done to resume jail business here in San Saba County as soon as possible, safely and legally.
A final word from the Sheriff’s Office: The situation is evolving quickly as we work with partnering agencies, City, County, and State officials. But no matter what, if someone calls 9-1-1 or the non-emergency line, (325) 372-5551, someone will answer and we will get them help/assistance.