The Wimberley Fire Department opened the Kay Mayfield Substation near Fischer Store Road last week in honor of the former firefighter who succumbed to cancer in 2014.

“She was a neighbor’s neighbor,” Ron Spangenberg, President of the Hays County Emergency Services District No. 4, the governmental entity that raises funds for the fire services in the Wimberley Valley, said. “She loved her community, and volunteered for many things including at the fire department.”

Mayfield started at the Wimberley Fire Department in 2006 and volunteered there for eight years until she passed away at the age of 63. She left her five acres of property and home to the fire department. 

According to Deputy Fire Chief JP Hominick, the new vessel will be used to help battle brush fires by taking water directly from the bay to spray on the flames.

"It is saltwater, we do have an endless supply, and it comes straight from the bay. It has a through hole with suction to come straight from the bay, so as long as we don't run out of water in the bay and fuel, we have everything we need,"Hominick said.

One of the perks of the new vessel is the capability of being able to use infrared technology to search for people in the water.