Welcome to the Hardin County Emergency Services District, a dedicated volunteer organization committed to serving and protecting the residents of the Hardin County District #7, with unwavering dedication.

Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel has issued a Declaration of Disaster and Order Restricting Outdoor Burning this date due to ongoing and projected extreme drought conditions countywide, being classified by Meteorologists as a “Flash Drought”. This “Burn Ban” will be in effect through September 1, 2026. If drought conditions have not improved by that date, I will seek an extension to this Declaration and Order from Hardin County Commissioners Court at 10:00AM on September 1, 2026. This Burn Ban is effective immediately. Thank you for observing the Order by not burning outdoors until the order is rescinded, which I assured you will be done by me or the Commissioners Court as soon as it is safe to do so countywide (this means if an area of Hardin County receives substantial rainfall while other areas of the County remain in extreme drought conditions, the Order will remain in full force and effect; and will be strictly enforced by our great law enforcement personnel).

Wayne McDaniel

County Judge

Hardin County, Texas

The creation of the Emergency Services District #7 (ESD) was initiated and conducted by the citizens of the Votaw/Thicket and surrounding areas within District 7. An ESD is a grassroots governmental entity that provides fire protection or emergency medical response (or a combination of the two) to Texans. Many ESDs started as rural fire prevention districts. In 2003,the Texas Legislature declared ESDs the preferred method for delivering fire protection and emergency medical response and converted all remaining rural fire prevention districts to ESDs.

ESDs are created under Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 775 or Chapter 776 as a means to

better provide public funding for urban, suburban and rural emergency services organizations. ESDs are the only practical way to adequately support emergency services in many Texas municipalities as well as suburban and rural areas of the state. In Texas, there are approximately 289 ESDs in 89 counties providing funding for emergency services.

An ESD collects taxes based on appraisals of real estate, personal property, and sales tax and either contracts with a service provider or provides the services directly. There are three types of ESDs:

Fire protection
Emergency medical services (EMS)
Both fire protection and emergency medical services (EMS)