Three Rivers

Firefighters with the 100,000 barrels-a-day Valero refinery in Three Rivers, TX, will make the trip to the Brayton Fire Training Field in College Station, TX, at least once a year, said new superintendent of emergency services J.T. Woodlee.

“We have four shifts and I bring each shift up here once each year for a 16-hour refresher course,” he said.

Woodlee brought 23 brigade members to Brayton in October. One hundred and nine members strong, the Three Rivers brigade is a combination of mandatory and volunteer responders.

One objective of the refresher training is to give responders a better idea of the entire fire operation rather than just their role, Woodlee said.

“We’ve slowed down our attack process to give the team a better overall understanding of what their roles on the fire field represent,” Woodlee said.

Located an hour and a half from both San Antonio and Corpus Christi, Three Rivers has a mutual aid agreement with the Refinery Terminal Fire Company in Corpus Christi.