Atascosa County, Texas — A devastating house fire on February 19, 2023, claimed the lives of Esmeralda Zapata's daughter and two grandchildren, ages 2 and 4, in
A devastating house fire in February 2023 claimed the lives of Esmeralda Zapata 's daughter and two grandchildren, ages 2 and 4, in Atascosa County . ATASCOSA COUNTY , Texas — A devastating house fire in February 2023 claimed the lives of Esmeralda Zapata 's daughter and two grandchildren, ages 2 and 4, in Atascosa County .
The tragedy has propelled Zapata to advocate for improved emergency services, including the establishment of a new fire station in the area. "It just turned my whole life around," Zapata said. "So ever since then, I've been real adamant and made sure that they understood that a fire station had to be here in Atascosa." Zapata believes that a quicker response time could have saved her loved ones. "It was horrible. According to the neighbors, it took 45 minutes to an hour before anything. An hour," she said. Devin Wilborn, a firefighter with the Poteet Volunteer Fire Department, explained the process of creating additional fire stations in Atascosa County. "Additional fire stations are something that are at the top of the list. However, that will not happen for a couple of years, until the revenue is able to sustain that," Wilborn said. If voters pass the proposition next week, Wilborn estimates it may take five years to establish the new station. The proposed Emergency Services District plans to collect a tax of 10 cents per $100 of property value based on the county's appraisal district. "One of the main goals that we are looking for with 24/7 staffing, better equipment, which would allow us to provide better services to the community and faster response times," Wilborn added. If approved, ESD #2 will cover areas served by the Poteet, Leming, and Ata-Bexar Volunteer Fire Departments. Zapata hopes the community will attend a town hall meeting at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Resurrected Life Church in Poteet to learn more about the proposition. "I want to make sure that the tragedy that happened to our children will not happen again," Zapata said. "So since then, I’m fighting for a fire station, new equipment, new manpower."
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