Lawton Firefighters Head to Texas: How Our Community Answers the Call in Crisis

Thursday morning started like any other day in Lawton until 6 a.m., when an urgent email arrived asking for help. The Lawton Fire Department didn’t hesitate. By early light, two swift water rescue teams, seven firefighters, and Battalion Chief Mike Dooley were loading their boats and hitting the road for San Antonio. The reason? South Texas is drowning. Nearly a trillion gallons of water fell on three Texas counties in just three days, and tornadoes are making rescue operations even more dangerous. To put that in perspective, that’s roughly 1.5 million Olympic-sized swimming pools or enough water to supply 11 million homes for an entire year.

What makes this deployment particularly meaningful is that five of the seven firefighters are experiencing their first out-of-state mission. For many of them, this isn’t just a humanitarian effort but a chance to apply training in the most real, high-stakes conditions imaginable. Fire Chief Jared Williams expressed both confidence in his team and the natural concern any leader feels sending people into harm’s way.“It’s like when your kids leave home,”he said.“You worry about them.”The 9.5-hour drive to San Antonio gives everyone time to prepare mentally for what’s ahead, and the team is equipped to be completely self-sufficient for 48 hours if needed.

The deployment happens through the state emergency management assistance compact, meaning Texas covers all costs. It’s a system built on the principle that when disaster strikes, neighboring states step up. For Lawton, it’s an opportunity to show that Southwest Oklahoma takes its responsibilities seriously, and it’s proof of why maintaining trained, prepared emergency response teams matters. These firefighters will spend 7 to 10 days helping people evacuate from rising water and pulling families to safety. Have you ever thought about what it would take to leave your own family to help strangers? That’s what our firefighters are doing right now.