Emergency center will soon operate out of the county courthouse

The EOC will move to the Burnet County Courthouse.

“There is just not enough room in the Sheriff’s Office, and it gets loud there,” County Judge Donna Klaeger said earlier this week. 

“We learned during the 2007 flood how crazy it was (in the Sheriff’s Office) and how (the County EOC) needed a separate location to focus on an entire event,” Klaeger added. 

During the months ahead, the EOC will be located in the Courthouse on the Square basement, where there is a large meeting area, a kitchen, restrooms, showers and plenty of space for computers, computer printers, copy machines, radios and telephones, Klaeger said. 

A long time ago the basement served as the county jail, Klaeger noted. 

“We can conduct business much more efficiently there during an event,” she added. 

Transfer of the EOC from the Sheriff’s Office to the courthouse basement may be complete by the end of the year, Klaeger said. 

When activated, the EOC is occupied by several members of county departments appointed to coordinate responses to threats including fire, flood and other emergencies. 

Those who assemble in the EOC during an emergency can include the county judge, commissioners, county attorney, sheriff, auditor, grant administrator, environmental services director; health authority and treasurer; emergency management and public assistance coordinators; fire department chiefs; public information, technology and regional liaison officers; the Chemical, Biological, Explosive, Radiological and Nuclear Incident Command Team; the Texas Forest Service; and many others, Klaeger said. 

Also, a deputy sheriff is detailed to the EOC to keep track of people going in and out of the center, Klaeger added.

“We have to have accurate information about who is where,” Klaeger said.

Relocation of the EOC will allow the county to conduct training sessions — or tabletop exercises — required by the National Incident Management System and Capital Area Council of Governments, Klaeger added. 

During mock drills held earlier this month at four spots in Burnet County among first responders from Burnet and six neighboring counties, radio communication between emergency site command posts and the EOC in the Sheriff’s Office proved to be the biggest problem, Capt. James Barho said. 

Different responders had trouble communicating with each other during the exercise because their radios were transmitting over various frequencies, Barho said. 

Also, channels were lost due to physical obstructions at emergency sites, and the EOC needed more antennae, consoles and telephone lines to handle all the radio traffic, officials said. 

“Our communication was severely challenged,” Barho said. 

Burnet and other counties are waiting for the federal government to approve grants for more emergency communications equipment, officials have said. 

raymond@thepicayune.com