County declares state of emergency

The Jeff Davis County Commission last week declared a state of emergency in Jeff Davis County as a result of the Jan. 30 fire at the facility that housed the Jeff Davis County E-911 Center, Emergency Medical Service and Emergency Management Agency (EMA).
The fire resulted in all three agencies having to be relocated.
According to the county’s resolution, “There exist emergency circumstances requiring extraordinary and immediate corrective acts for the protection of the health and safety of the citizens of the County of Jeff Davis due to the displacement of the three agencies from the facility due to the fire.
The resolution puts into force the county’s Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Operations Plan to deal with any issues which may arise as a result of the fire. Additionally the county’s emergency management ordinances will go into operation.
EMA Director Charles Wasdin explained that, while the services of all three emergency agencies are operating, it is not at 100%, in part due to the fact that the three agencies are in separate locations rather than all of them being in one building.
The primary effect of the designation is that, in case of some major emergency, such as a severe storm situation, if state assistance is needed to help the community respond to the situation, with the state of emergency already in effect, it will expedite the procedures for getting the state assistance.
The state of emergency will remain in effect until the services are again housed at the same location.