AUSTIN, Texas — Division Chief Thayer Smith has been answering the call for the Austin Fire Department for 37 years.
“It's just the love of the job, serving the citizens of Austin, that's really what it is,” Smith said. “It's gotten to the point, we're busy almost every day."
In almost four decades of work, he’s learned to always be on alert, especially July Fourth weekend.
“With the holiday coming on a Monday, it's going to make the whole weekend much busier than normal,” Smith said.
Right as his command started Friday afternoon, a house fire claimed the life of three pets in North Austin and destroyed most of the structure.
“June is a little early to be this hot, so we've been dealing with the heat,” Smith said.
Record temperatures and drought conditions have been common culprits at many of the scenes across the region.
“We’re watching it very closely and will ramp it up if we see anything, starting at least on Monday,” Smith said. “We'll definitely have extra staffing on hand for our brush trucks and the anticipated fires we're going to have.”
This weekend, Smith urges an abundance of caution when celebrating and to avoid the use of fireworks, which are illegal in most of Central Texas.
“Just go to a professional show and leave the fireworks to the professionals,” Smith said. “Today is not going to be a fireworks call, this particular house fire we're at right now. However, every year we see a house burn down and it's so avoidable.”