Kendall County Fire Chief: Rural Texas Runs on 30 Volunteers and Luck

The newest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled "Your Volunteer Fire Department Needs You Right Now," hosted by Justin McKenzie and released September 28, 2026, sits down with Sisterdale Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brian Reilly for an unvarnished look at the staffing crisis facing rural fire service. With roughly 70% of America's firefighters serving as volunteers and most departments unable to keep trucks staffed, the conversation lands at a moment when 17,000 people a month are searching for homes in the Texas Hill Country, largely unaware of the response-time math waiting for them at the end of the driveway.

Chief Reilly walks listeners through the realities of running a department whose roster floats between 30 and 35 responders across a rural stretch of Kendall County. The episode maps several distinct threads:

• Why a 4 to 5 minute flashover time in modern, plastic-filled homes cannot be beaten by a 20 to 30 minute rural dispatch and drive time, no matter the budget.
• How the Hill Country Fire Coalition, working alongside groups like Team Rubicon, is trying to keep ordinary fires from becoming firestorms.
• Why the litigious, credential-heavy modern fire service has drifted from the practical, farming-era model that once defined rural mutual aid.

Reilly is blunt about what preparedness really means when the nearest engine is a half hour away. On the illusion that money solves the problem, he tells McKenzie:

The chief also refuses to let Kendall County residents lean on their good fortune, warning, "There's no reason why the next Bastrop isn't Kendall County... Fortunate is not a plan."

The deeper reporting in the episode traces how field medicine, which Reilly notes worked its way into American fire service through the late 1970s and 1980s (as documented in the TV show "Emergency"), now accounts for more than half of every department's runs. Reilly recounts his first major interior structure fire, where the only thing left standing was a kitchen refrigerator covered in a family's weekly priority list, gymnastics practice, groceries, errands, all rendered meaningless in seconds. He argues that debris management, fire breaks, and landowner responsibility, once assumed under an older farming ethic, must be relearned by newcomers before the next major event, not after. The next and final Sisterdale episode will examine why the cedar in Hill Country yards is itself the fuel.

Sisterdale VFD Hunters Supper & Raffle. The Sisterdale Volunteer Fire Department will host its 49th Annual Hunters Supper & Firearms Raffle on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the William "Bill" Whitworth Fire Station, 1207 Sisterdale Rd., Boerne. Supper includes BBQ plates, a Cajun shrimp dinner and homemade desserts, and the raffle drawing is at 8:30 p.m. This year's featured prize is a 2026 Special Edition Custom Sisterdale VFD Henry 30-30 rifle, along with firearms, scopes, knives and more. Tickets are $10, winners don't need to be present, and firearm winners must complete the transfer through a licensed FFL. Proceeds support the gear, equipment and day-to-day needs that keep the station and its volunteers ready, including a new covered bay. Tickets and the full prize list are on the department's Hunters Supper & Raffle page.

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, tells the stories behind the people, places, and pressures shaping modern Texas, from the Hill Country to the coast. The show works to surface these conversations before the next major event forces them, giving residents, newcomers, and civic leaders context they can act on. New episodes release every week across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

This contant was orignally distributed by Newsworthy.ai. Blockchain Registration, Verification & Enhancement provided by NewsRamp™. The source URL for this press release is Kendall County Fire Chief: Rural Texas Runs on 30 Volunteers and Luck.