Station 126

**Station 126** is an emergency fire and EMS station part of the Austin Fire Department in Travis county. After the tragedy of the original fire crew, it was shut down and closed for six months until Owen Strand was recruited down to rebuild the station from scratch, just as he had back in his old station in Manhattan shortly after 9/11.

## History

During a call where a fire broke out at a fertilizer company, the original Austin firehouse responded, and Grace Ryder, who was taking the call, advised them of the caller who was stuck in the middle of the compound. Her husband, Judd Ryder answered, theorizing that the fire was moving fast and looked like a four-alarm. The crew rushed in to rescue the caller and began putting out the fire with hoses. The captain of the firehouse advised his men to give it all they got as the fire worsened and he finds another person calling for help above the water tower. They try and put more pressure on the hose, but the water runs out. Judd lets his captain know he spotted a hydrant about 100 yards away, and he gets clearance to run a four-inch line towards it. Judd makes it to the hydrant and the water begins to successfully spray out further and they cheer in excitement.

However, Judd suddenly received a call back from Grace, who tells him that a maintenance man who called in reported that the factory stored ammonium nitrate fertilizer, a highly explosive compound. Judd runs back towards his men to warn them to fall back just as a second explosion shocks the factory, tragically killing everyone present and he was severely injured. Shortly after, the firehouse is closed down temporarily.

Six months later, Owen Strand, the captain of Manhattan firehouse #252, is recruited by Beth Healy from the Department of Justice and Deputy Fire Chief Alden Radford to come down and rebuild the house from scratch. Owen questions why the Department of Justice was involved, and she tells him there had been an inclusivity issue down in Austin, where the Civil Rights division got involved. Though Strand is confused about why they didn't hire someone diverse if the department focused on it, Radford tells him they needed him, as an outsider who understood how much the community would heal if he rebuilt the house. Owen denies the offer but changes his mind shortly after he finds his son TK Strand in his apartment, having overdosed on oxycontin that morning, and revives him. After having a talk with him, the two of them relocate down to the old firehouse and begin to rebuild, hiring an entirely new crew, along with the return of the lone survivor of the tragedy, Judd Ryder as a co-leader.

Along with the new crew, Owen meets and briefly clashes with the EMS captain of the 126, Michelle Blake, unaware EMS being responsible for medical emergencies in Texas, rather than the FD as it did back in NYC.

## Employees

### Original Crew

* Unnamed Captain † *(captain/firefighter)*
* Chief Allan Braxton † *(firefighter)*
* Chuck Parkland † *(firefighter)*
* Firefighter Williams † *(firefighter)*
* Cory Garrity † *(firefighter)*
* Jake Harkes † *(firefighter)*
* 5 other unnamed members † *(firefighters)*
* Billy Tyson *(captain/firefighter)* (on medical leave during the tragedy, later reassigned to Station 121)
* Judd Ryder *(firefighter)*

### Current Firefighters

* Owen Strand *(captain/firefighter)*
* Judd Ryder *(firefighter)*
* Marjan Marwani *(firefighter)*
* Paul Strickland *(firefighter)*
* Mateo Chavez *(firefighter)*

### EMS 126

* Tommy Vega *(EMS captain)*
* Michelle Blake *(EMS captain formerly)*
* Nancy Gillian *(EMT)*
* Tim Rosewater † *(EMT)*
* TK Strand *(EMT, firefighter formerly)*
* Hogan *(EMS captain from B-Shift)*

## Trivia

* After the new crew's first successful rescue with Owen having saved Allison Parker's baby, they went viral on social media, being called #TheDreamTeam.