Comal County (TX)

Comal County, is a county within the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area, whose county seat is New Braunfels, Texas. With a total population of approximately 110,000 residents, and a size of 575 sq. miles, Comal County is one of the fastest growing counties in Texas. Tourism is a dominating industry in Comal County, with the Guadalupe and Comal Rivers, as well as Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Canyon Lake.

Comal County is served by the Comal County Sheriff's Office (conventional P25) and multiple rural EMS and fire protection districts (conventional analog).

New Braunfels, the largest city in Comal County, is served by the New Braunfels Police Department and New Braunfels Fire Department, which also handles emergency medical services. Both departments utilize the LCRA P25 trunking system, though previously each department used conventional analog repeaters. These depreciated repeaters are held in reserve for natural disasters, such as the numerous floods that have struck in the past 15 years.

Comal County Emergency Service Districts

 ESD#1- EMS service through Bulverde/Spring Branch Emergency Services (Covers both ESD 4 and 5 territory)
 ESD#2- EMS service through Canyon Lake EMS (Same territory as ESD 3, Central/North Comal Co)
 ESD#3- Fire protection through Canyon Lake Fire Dept. (Same territory as ESD2, Central/North Comal Co)
 ESD#4- Fire protection through Bulverde/Spring Branch Emergency Services (Spring Branch/Northwest Comal Co)
 ESD#5- Fire protection through Bulverde/Spring Branch Emergency Services (Bulverde/Southwest Comal Co)
 ESD#6- Fire protection through Bracken VFD, EMS through Schertz EMS (Southeast Comal Co)
 ESD#7- Fire/EMS service through New Braunfels FD/EMS(Northeast Comal Co)

Unit Assignments

Comal County Public Safety Unit Assignments

1XXs: Garden Ridge Police
3XXs: Comal County Sheriff Units
4XXs: Comal County Sheriff Units
5XXs: Canyon Lake FD/EMS
6XXs: Spring Branch VFD
7XXs: Bulverde VFD/ 750s + Bulverde PD
8XXs: Bracken VFD
9XXs: Comal County Constables (possibly some deputies as well)
931-933: Comal County Animal Control Officers
1340: unknown (logged on CCSO Channel 1 on 5/6/10)
1631: Comal County Fire Marshal
1633: Comal County Fire Marshal
17XXs: Bulverde Spring Branch EMS
436X-437X: Comal County Jailers
51XXs: Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens (511X-512Xs)
659Xs: Texas DPS

Comal County Fire Apparatus Assignments

This is a listing of the Bracken, Bulverde/Spring Branch, Canyon Lake station and apparatus assignments.

 Bracken VFD (CCESD6 is Fire, EMS provided by Schertz EMS)
 Station 81 - 23600 FM3009, San Antonio, TX 78266
    Engine 821, Reserve Engine, Brush 850, Tender 861, Rescue 870, Squad 872
 Station 82 - 28004 Delafield Dr, New Braunfels, TX 78132
    Engine 822, Brush 851, Brush 852, Tender 860
 
 Bulverde/Spring Branch Emergency Services (CCESD1 is EMS, CCESD4 is Spring Branch, CCESD5 is Bulverde)
 Station 71 - 353 Rodeo Dr, Spring Branch, TX 78070
    Medic 71, Engine 71, Brush 71, Platform 71, Tender 71, Reserve Medic 75
 Station 72 - 2016 Puter Creek Rd, Spring Branch, TX 78070
    Medic 72, Engine 72, Squad 72, Brush 72, Tender 72
 Station 73 - 30475 Johnson Way, Bulverde, TX 78163
    Medic 73, Engine 73, Squad 73, Brush 73, Tender 73
 Station 74 - 215 Rebecca Creek Rd, New Braunfels, TX 78133
    Medic 74, Engine 74, Brush 74
 
 Canyon Lake Fire & EMS (CCESD2 is EMS, CCESD3 is Fire)
 Station 51 - 1074 Scissortail, Canyon Lake, TX 78133
    Medic 71, Truck 71, Squad 71, Tender 51, Battalion 51, Boat 51, Reserve Medic 57
 Station 52 - 160 Oblate Drive, Canyon Lake, TX 78133
    Medic 52, Engine 52, Brush 52, Boat 52
 Station 53 - 21750 FM 306, Canyon Lake, TX 78133
    Medic 53, Engine 53, Brush 53, Marine 53, Reserve Medic 50
 Station 54 - 8685 FM 306, New Braunfels, TX 78132
    Medic 54, Engine 54, Brush 54, TIFMAS Engine 553
 Station 55 - 1223 Island View Drive, Canyon Lake, TX 78133
    Medic 55, Engine 55
 Station 56 - 1150 S. Cranes Mill Rd., New Braunfels, TX 78132
    Medic 56, Engine 56, Brush 56
 
 New Braunfels Fire Department (CCESD7 is contracted with NBFD for Fire/EMS)
    See apparatus and stations in New Braunfels section below

New Braunfels Public Safety Unit Assignments and Channel Lineups

01-3X: NBPD Chief, CID, and Captains, Lieutenants, Sergeants (including Patrol Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants)
40-48: New Braunfels Animal Control Officers
1XX: NBFD Command (used by person to person only, dispatches are made to Truck 1 or Medic 1, etc., for apparatus needed)
- 100- Fire Chief
- 101- Asst. Fire Chief
- 104-
- 105- Central
- 106-
- 107-
- 110-
- 111- Fire Investigator
- 112-
- 113- Fire Investigator
- 114-
- 115-
202-299: NBPD Patrol Corporals, K9 Officers, Patrolmen
3XX: NBFD (used by person to person only, dispatches are made to Truck 1 or Medic 1, etc., for apparatus needed)
- 302- NBFD Disp 1
- 304- NBFD Disp 1
- 315- NBFD Disp 1
- 324- NBFD Disp 1
- 335- NBFD Disp 1
- 338- NBFD Disp 1
- 359- NBFD Disp 1
- 371- NBFD Disp 1
- 383- NBFD Disp 1
- 391- NBFD Disp 1
- 392- NBFD Disp 1
- 393- NBFD Disp 1
- 398- NBFD Disp 1

New Braunfels Police Department and New Braunfels Fire Department both subscribe to the LCRA P25 trunking system. During natural disasters and busy summer weekends they may employ their old conventional analog repeaters, as was the case in the Flood of 2010. See below for more information.

New Braunfels Police Department
Talkgroup (Dec)     Description
11000                NBPD All Call (Dept. wide paging)
11001                NBPD Disp 1 (primary)
11002                NBPD Disp 2 (used when primary is held for officer safety)
11003                NBPD Ops 3   
11004                NBPD Ops 4
11005                NBPD CID
11009                NBPD Event (used for large events as well as summer river patrol)

Frequency    Tone   Description    
155.1900     203.5  old NBPD repeater (was used for LCRA patches in the past as well as 
                    natural disaster backup comms; currently used daily by New Braunfels 
                    Solid Waste Dept.)

New Braunfels Fire Department
Talkgroup (Dec)     Description
11016                NBFD Disp 1 (primary Fire and EMS dispatch)
11017                NBFD Fire 2
11018                NBFD Fire 3 (working talkgroup)
11019                NBFD Fire 4 (working talkgroup)
11023                NBFD/EMS Patient Reports (to Christus New Braunfels)
 
Frequency   Tone    Description
154.1300    203.5   old NBFD repeater (used for LCRA patches as well as natural disaster 
                    response; currently held in reserve).
154.3100    203.5   old NBFD repeater (used for natural disasters in the past).

New Braunfels Fire Stations & Apparatus Assignments

 Station 1 (Central)- 169 S. Hill St.  
 Rescue 1: Pierce SpecOps Truck
 Truck 1 : Pierce 100' Aerial Truck
 Engine 1: Pierce Engine
 Rescue 1: 
 Medic 1 :
 Medic 7 :
 various boats, rafts and PWCs
 
 Station 2- 4120 Loop 337 (@ Reuckle Rd.)
 Engine 2: Pierce Engine
 Medic 2 :
 Hazmat 2:
 
 Station 3- 1333 Hanz Dr.
 Engine 3 : Pierce Engine
 Medic 3  : Pierce Ambulance
 Brush 3  : 
 Utility 3:

 Station 4- 2210 Alyssa Way
 Engine 4 : 
 Medic 4  :
 Brush 4  :
 Tender 4 :
 
 Station 5- 1250 W. County Line Rd.
 Engine 5:
 Medic 5 :
 
 Station 6- 209 Stone Gate  
 Engine 6 : Pierce Engine
 Tanker 6 :
 Medic 6  :
 Batt 1   :
 Brush 6  :
 Utility 6:

New Braunfels Alert Notification System

In early 2011 the City of New Braunfels installed 8 warning sirens, which allow the city to warn residents of impending natural disasters. Specifically, these will be mostly utilized to warn of flash flooding along the rivers (each was located to cover a portion of the rivers or creeks prone to flash flooding). 4 of the 8 units have voice broadcasting capabilities while the remainder are sirens only. The city will conduct weekly testing on Wednesdays around 12:30pm. The location of each siren is noted below and a map follows.

 Alert Notification System Sirens
 Siren 1: above Camp Slumber Falls, 4300 River Rd.
 Siren 2: NBU water treatment facility, 1400 Gruene Rd.
 Siren 3: NBFD Station 3, 1333 Hanz Dr.
 Siren 4: Torrey Park, Torrey St. @ Gruene Rd.
 Siren 5: Prince Solms Park, Liberty St. @ South St.
 Siren 6: The Other Place, 385 Other Place Dr. 
 Siren 7: HEB Soccer Fields, 550 N. Live Oak St.
 Siren 8: Comal Park, 1900 Kuehler Ave.

Common Terms, Codes and Abbreviations

Common Terms
CFS: Call For Service (used by Comal County Fire and Sheriff's Office)
CNB: Christus New Braunfels (local hospital)
Firehouse: software program used for field mapping, unit statuses and incident 
           command management.


10 Codes
10-7 Out of Service
10-8 Back in Service
10-27 Driver's License check
10-28 License Plate check
10-41 Going On Duty
10-42 Going Off Duty
10-43 For your information
10-55 Impaired Person

Brevity Codes
Code 1 Acknowledge this Call
Code 2 Proceed Immediately with lights/without Siren
Code 3 Proceed Immediately with lights and Siren
Code 4 No further assistance required
Code 5 Stakeout - Uniformed Officers stay away
Code 6 Out of Vehicle for Investigation
Code 7 Out of Service to eat
Code 8 Fire Alarm
Code 9 Answering ring-down
Code 10 Bomb Threat
Code 12 Patrol your District and report extent of damage
Code 13 Major Disaster Activation
Code 14 Resume normal Operation
Code 20 Notify News Media to respond
Code 22 Restricted Radio Traffic
Code 30 Officer needs assistance - Emergency
Code 33 Emergency Traffic on Air - All units stand by
Code 43 TAC forces committed
Code 100 In position to intercept Suspect

Comal County Fire Alarm Tone Outs

Comal County Fire Alarm Dispatch (154.2950) Tone-Outs for programming Scanners and Pagers

Department                                 Stations       Tone A (hz)   Tone B (hz)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All Depts - Special Notices & WX Alerts    ALL         (Unknown yet if this exists)
Bracken Fire & EMS                         N/A            788.5         1217.8
BSB Fire & EMS (Bulverde/Spring Branch)    1/2/3/4        788.5         953.7
BSB Fire & EMS (Bulverde/Spring Branch)    1/2/3/4        788.5         651.9
Canyon Lake Fire & EMS                     1/2/3/5        553.9         584.8

We Need help to distinguish the 2 tone pairs used for BSB (BSB=Bulverde/Spring Branch)

New Braunfels Utilities (NBU)

NBU is the local utility provider for New Braunfels and a small portion of the surrounding areas. They have 3 main frequencies:

 158.1450 NBU Utilities (Listen to this frequency during power outages for information)
 158.2050 NBU Electric (electrical service connections)
 158.2500 NBU Water (city water service connections)

Related Wiki Pages

Attractions Comal County (TX) -- includes Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Resorts, New Braunfels, TX
New Braunfels Airport (KBAZ) Comal County (TX)