Firefighters from the Willowfork Fire Department, which serves the Cinco Ranch and Katy areas, were injured this week when their fire truck was struck head-on by a trailer while they were assisting with the massive Ross Fire in Palo Pinto County. The crash happened on Thursday, August 27, as the crew traveled to another area of the fire, and the department says its firefighters were treated for injuries whose number and severity have not yet been disclosed.
According to Covering Katy News, a truck pulling a large trailer lost control and crossed into the path of the Willowfork fire engine, striking it head-on. The collision separated the front wheel assembly from the fire truck, and the apparatus sustained major, heavy damage in the impact. Willowfork Fire Department Chief Billy Wilson said the department is grateful for the support it received after the incident and thanked both the firefighters and emergency personnel working the Ross Fire and those who responded to the crash and assisted the Willowfork crew.
The department is now assessing the damage to the apparatus, per the same report, while Wilson said Willowfork will continue to support the injured firefighters as they recover. Willowfork crews had worked long hours under difficult conditions protecting communities affected by the fire, and the crew reportedly worked through the night and into Wednesday protecting homes and supplying water to other fire vehicles before the crash.
A Wildfire That Exploded Overnight
The Ross Fire ignited around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, August 24, near U.S. Highway 180 and FM 919 in Palo Pinto County, and it exploded from an initial 25 acres to more than 50,000 acres within its first 24 hours, according to KBTX. Within three days the fire had burned about 85,000 acres across Palo Pinto and Jack counties, and the Texas Tribune has reported it as the second-largest wildfire in the Dallas-Fort Worth area's recorded history. The blaze forced the overnight evacuation of roughly 630 homes in Jack County along County Road 2210 toward Highway 281, while Jacksboro ISD delayed classes and Perrin CISD canceled classes entirely. Emergency shelters were set up in Jacksboro and Weatherford for displaced residents and livestock.
Willowfork firefighters responded to a request for assistance at the Ross Fire on August 25, part of a much larger mobilization. The Houston Chronicle reports that the Atascocita, Klein, Spring, Sheldon, and Little York fire departments, along with the Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security, also sent firefighters, ambulance buses, and incident management teams to North Texas. Willowfork's own Tanker 81 apparatus arrived at roughly 1 a.m. on Wednesday, August 26, to help supply water for firefighting operations, a deployment the department confirmed in social media updates.
How Mutual Aid Gets Firefighters Across the State
The cross-county response was coordinated through the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System, or TIFMAS, a statewide mobilization framework managed by the Texas A&M Forest Service that coordinates local career and volunteer apparatus and personnel across the state. TIFMAS reimburses municipal fire departments for state-requested wildland deployments, and it was under that system that Willowfork dispatched Tanker 81 roughly 150 miles from the Katy and Cinco Ranch area to Palo Pinto County, joining dozens of other agencies statewide, according to a report from Firefighter Close Calls.
Wildland deployments in Texas also integrate specialized medical support through the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force, which dispatches 4x4 Wildland Paramedic Units to provide advanced life support in rugged terrain near active fire lines. The system was created in part to protect wildland firefighters during statewide activations like this one. On August 25, FEMA approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Ross Fire, allowing Texas and participating local agencies to receive 75 percent federal reimbursement for eligible wildfire suppression expenses, according to the Office of the Texas Governor.
A Department Built for This Kind of Call
Willowfork Fire Department, which operates under Fort Bend County Emergency Services District No. 2, has served the Cinco Ranch and Katy areas since it was founded in 2003, and it now runs three fire stations with 41 full-time and 44 part-time personnel. In June 2024, the department and its emergency services district earned an Insurance Services Office Class 1 rating, the highest possible score for fire suppression capabilities, according to Community Impact.
The crash comes amid an extraordinary run of wildfire activity across Texas. As of late August, 190 of the state's 254 counties had active countywide burn bans in place amid persistent triple-digit heat and severe drought, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. Willowfork crews are no strangers to high-stress calls closer to home, either — Hoodline previously covered a June house fire in Cinco Ranch that also sent Willowfork firefighters to the hospital for treatment. This week's crash remains under review, and Willowfork Fire Department has not yet released the exact number of firefighters injured or the full extent of their injuries.
