History
In the summer of 1975, after fire destroyed a home in the Forest North sub-division, a group of residents from Forest North and Anderson Mill got together and formed the Jollyville Company of the Round Rock Volunteer Fire Department.
Williamson County EMS provided the ambulance service in our area but had to travel from Round Rock, which caused longer response times. Seeing a need, members of Jollyville took Emergency Care Attendant (ECA) courses, tested with the Texas Department of Health and, in 1978, started responding to medical emergencies in our response area as emergency first responders.
In 1985, Jollyville became the first “Fire District” in Williamson County (Wilco FD#1). This enabled our department to accrue funds, for fire department operations, via property taxes.
In 1990, Jollyville became the first volunteer fire department in Texas to respond with automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) for cardiac emergencies. These devices have now become commonplace throughout the country. Jollyville has saved many lives with these devices.
In 1995, Jollyville became the first “Emergency Services District” in Williamson County (Wilco ESD#1). This enabled our department to increase the accrual of funds, for fire department operations, via property taxes.
In 1996, Jollyville became a “combination” fire department, with both a paid and volunteer staff, when we began paying firefighters to staff the stations. An initial group of 12 volunteers agreed to complete the training and become the first paid firefighters in Jollyville. Soon after, a third firefighter was added, to each apparatus and each shift, bringing the total to 18 paid firefighters.
Today, Jollyville covers an area of approximately 11 square miles and protects about 18,500 people, responding to over 1000 call for assistance per year.