Rural fire service in the Texas Hill Country is stretched thin by a volunteer staffing crisis, and one Kendall County fire chief is warning that growth without preparedness could turn a manageable fire into a disaster. In the newest episode of The Building Texas Show, released September 28, 2026, host Justin McKenzie speaks with Sisterdale Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brian Reilly in an episode titled “Your Volunteer Fire Department Needs You Right Now,” about the realities facing departments that depend on volunteers.
Reilly’s department runs with a roster that floats between 30 and 35 responders across a rural stretch of Kendall County. That thin margin matters because roughly 70% of America’s firefighters serve as volunteers, and most departments struggle to keep trucks staffed. The episode arrives as about 17,000 people a month search for homes in the Texas Hill Country, many unaware of the response-time math waiting at the end of their driveways.
The chief is blunt about the limits of money and equipment. “We could have 40 fire engines and 100 firefighters there full time. If you’re 20 minutes from the fire station and it took 10 minutes to even get dispatched, it’s burned for 30 minutes,” Reilly tells McKenzie. “With modern fuels, all the plastics that are in houses now, your flashover time is like 4 or 5 minutes. It’s not 20 like it used to be.” A 4-to-5-minute flashover in a modern, plastic-filled home cannot be beaten by a 20-to-30-minute rural dispatch and drive time, no matter the budget, he argues.
Reilly also refuses to let residents lean on good fortune. “There’s no reason why the next Bastrop isn’t Kendall County,” he warns. “Fortunate is not a plan.” The episode traces how the Hill Country Fire Coalition, working alongside groups like Team Rubicon, is trying to keep ordinary fires from becoming firestorms, and how field medicine 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, 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 stakes extend beyond any single department. With the region’s population rising and volunteer ranks flat, residents face longer waits for help, higher insurance risk and a greater need to prepare their own properties. The episode’s final Sisterdale installment will examine why the cedar in Hill Country yards is itself the fuel.
The department is also seeking community support through its 49th Annual Hunters Supper & Firearms Raffle, set for 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, with the raffle drawing 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 gear, equipment and day-to-day needs, including a new covered bay. Tickets and the full prize list are available on the Hunters Supper & Raffle page.
