Austin City Limits: Several phones, IDs and credit cards lost during Weekend One
AUSTIN, Texas - The cooler weather brought some relief for Austin City Limits (ACL) attendees and first responders during Weekend One.
"From the EMS perspective, we had a great weekend," said Commander JC Ferguson with Austin-Travis County EMS. "The issues that were created for us, previously, were heat-related mostly, and this weekend provided a good opportunity for that to be a lot lower. And that definitely worked in our favor."
They ended the weekend with seven transports off-site in total, according to Commander Ferguson. He couldn’t share what they were transported for.
To ensure the safety of the thousands that attend the festival, first responders put eyes in the sky via drone and feet and wheels on the ground, using bikes and Gator-style vehicles.
The City’s Rescue Task Force was also standing by. The team is made up of members of ATCEMS, the Austin Fire Department and the Austin Police Department. It gets deployed to large events like ACL.
"All the members of the Rescue Task Force have gone through specific training for that," said Commander Ferguson. "They work collaboratively to speed up the process of them getting to an incident site, being able to go into areas that paramedics and firefighters may not normally go into until a police presence has been secured."
Some festival goers may have left with less than they came in with.
As of Monday, Oct. 9, ACL’s lost and found website showed 11 unclaimed phones, 10 wallets, close to 30 IDs and more than 50 credit cards. Other lost items include bags, watches, keys, rings and sunglasses.
Weekend Two starts Friday, Oct. 13. The following weekend the F1 races are in town.
"October is a busy month for us. Two weekends of ACL. There are football games, and we will be at Circuit of the Americas for the Formula One race," said Commander Ferguson.
FOX 7 reached out to APD to see if there have been reports of stolen items. In 2021, police tracked down almost 300 phones that had been stolen at the festival. An APD spokesperson said they will have numbers available after Weekend Two.
For more information on claiming lost items, click here.