SpaceX is quietly standing up a volunteer fire department to serve the sprawling launch-and-manufacturing Starbase complex, tightening its control over emergency response at a site known for rapid — and sometimes explosive — rocket development.
A certificate of formation filed with the Texas Secretary of State on June 30 shows the creation of what’s called the Starbase Volunteer Fire Department. The nonprofit entity lists its headquarters as 1 Rocket Road in Brownsville, the principal address of SpaceX. Two of the three directors named on the filing are SpaceX employees: Cody Dye, environmental health and safety manager, and Kevin Bagnall, in-house counsel. The certificate is signed by another SpaceX lawyer, Stephen Herndon.
The filing says the organization will “aid, promote and provide for the establishment of systems and facilities for the provision of public safety education, and fire prevention and suppression services.”
SpaceX has historically handled fires at Starbase, which was recently incorporated as its own Texas city, with a combination of an internal firefighting and emergency response team and help from local fire departments, such as the one in nearby Brownsville.
It’s unclear what impact the new volunteer fire department will have on those external relationships, and when asked, Cameron County directed TechCrunch to submit a public information act request. At the time of publication, Cameron County had not responded to that request.
SpaceX, Brownsville Fire Department, and Starbase city officials did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
It’s also unclear whether the Starbase Volunteer Fire Department is connected to the county’s 911-dispatch system. As it is a volunteer fire department, it is not regulated by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection, which is only authorized to regulate local government fire departments, agency chief Mike Wisko said.
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The new volunteer fire department was established just months after Starbase became an officially incorporated city in Texas. That has led SpaceX and Starbase city officials – most of whom are current or former SpaceX employees – to exercise more authority over the corner of Texas they occupy. The company town announced in September a deal with Cameron County to take partial control of the beach near the launch complex. Starbase installed gates in June to control public access to the city.
The formation of the new volunteer fire department coincided with the end of a separate arrangement: SpaceX’s funding of an emergency fire marshal position inside Cameron County.
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