On October 20, Travis County Judge Andy Brown and city of Austin Mayor Kirk Watson

urged residents to use caution as wildfire risk grows amid dry weather conditions.

By JO CLIFTON, Austin Monitor

Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Mayor Kirk Watson held a joint news conference Monday to announce that each had signed disaster declarations related to wildfire risk.

“On Friday I signed a disaster declaration,” Brown said. “It will allow Travis County to proactively access resources, streamline emergency coordination (and) reinforce wildfire prevention efforts.”

According to Watson, the preemptive disaster declaration also allows public safety workers to start tracking expenses and facilitates reimbursement from the federal or state government if a wildfire occurs.

“Austin now ranks fifth in the nation in the number of homes facing wildfire risks,” Watson said.  He noted that he had signed the declaration on Friday because of current dry conditions and the high risk of fire in the area.

Brown issued a similar declaration for Travis County. He noted that there were two fires on Sunday, both of which local firefighters were able to contain. The bigger of the two, a brushfire on Saturday was, according to Brown, “swiftly contained” by a number of agencies, including ESD 11 and representatives of the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, the Austin Fire Department and others.

“This September… was the fifth driest on record. We got some really good rains over the summer, but that has pretty stopped for now,” he said, noting the dry conditions that make the Central Texas area so vulnerable to wildfires.

The most important message from Watson and Brown was that area residents should be prepared in case a wildfire occurs in their neighborhood. Both urged residents to sign up with Warn Central Texas, which allows officials to notify residents if there is a wildfire in their area. Watson said residents can ask for a free “structural ignition zone evaluation” from the Austin Fire Department. During the evaluation a wildfire expert will walk the exterior of your home with you to offer guidance about how to strengthen the home against wildfire in addition to giving advice about evacuation and preparatory actions to take when conditions are favorable for wildfires.

Governor Abbott Activates Additional State Wildfire Resources, Updates Disaster Declaration Ahead Of Increased Fire Danger

On October 10, Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to activate additional state emergency response resources in anticipation of a growing wildfire danger across the state and the potential for a flood risk through last weekend.

Additionally, the Governor amended and renewed the state’s wildfire disaster declaration, which now includes 179 counties.

“Elevated wildfire conditions and flood risk continue to pose a threat across the state of Texas,” said Governor Abbott. “Today, I directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to deploy additional resources in preparation for potential wildfires in the eastern half of the state and severe flooding in West Texas. Texas will remain vigilant and continue to provide all necessary resources to protect Texans from wildfire and flood threats.”

According to the Texas A&M Forest Service, dry vegetation across the eastern half of the state combined with increased winds and above-average temperatures creates an expanded wildfire potential. Wildfires that ignite can spread quickly and Texans are urged to avoid activities that create sparks. Today, the Texas A&M Forest Service raised the Wildland Fire Preparedness Level to Level 3, indicating that wildfire activity is impacting several regions of the state as the result of drought, dry vegetation, or frequent fire weather events. Over the past week, more than 50 wildfires have burned more than 3,000 acres across the state.

According to the National Weather Service, the risk of heavy rainfall from storms in the eastern Pacific moving northward over Mexico and into Far West Texas could lead to flash flooding over the weekend. Texans are urged to monitor the forecasts carefully and follow directions from emergency officials.

At the Governor’s direction, the following state emergency response resources are available to support local flood and wildfire response operations:

• Texas A&M Forest Service (Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System): More than 350 state, local, and out of state firefighters and support personnel; more than 125 pieces of equipment including fire engines, bulldozers, and motor graders; more than 35 federally contracted firefighting aircraft, including large air tankers, single-engine air tankers for retardant drops, super scoopers for water drops, air attack platforms for surveillance and spotting, an aerial supervision module for aerial guidance, a multi-mission aircraft for fire intelligence gathering, and helicopters with firefighting capability
• Texas Department of State Health Services (Texas Emergency Medical Task Force): Wildland Fire and Severe Weather Support Packages consisting of medics, ambulances, and all-terrain vehicles
• Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (Texas A&M Task Force 1): Swiftwater Rescue Boat Squads to assist with flood rescues
• Texas Division of Emergency Management: The State of Texas Incident Management Team to support deployed emergency response resources across the state
• Texas Department of Transportation: Personnel monitoring road conditions
• Texas Department of Public Safety: Texas Highway Patrol Troopers to patrol roadways and assist stranded motorists
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: Game Wardens, State Park Police
• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service: Disaster Assessment and Recovery Agents as well as AgriLife Extension Agents to support agricultural and livestock needs
• Texas Animal Health Commission: Coordinating animal resource needs
• Texas Department of Agriculture: Coordinating agricultural resource needs
• Public Utility Commission of Texas: Power outage monitoring and coordination with utility providers
• Railroad Commission of Texas: Monitoring of the state’s natural gas supply and communication with the oil and gas industry
• Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: Air/water/wastewater monitoring
• Texas Health and Human Services Commission: Personnel to provide information on available services through the 2-1-1 Texas Information Referral Network

Texans are urged to implement wildfire prevention and preparedness measures, including making an emergency plan, following instructions from emergency response officials, and keeping emergency supplies easily available. Texans can visit TexasReady.gov for wildfire and flood safety tips, locate wildfire prevention information at tfsweb.tamu.edu, check road conditions at DriveTexas.org, and find all-hazards preparedness tips at tdem.texas.gov/prepare.

Governor Abbott continues to take action to provide all available resources to help support local communities and protect Texans from wildfire impacts, including:

• Activating additional wildfire response resources ahead of increased wildfire threats
• Directing the Texas Division of Emergency Management to activate state wildfire response resources and issuing a disaster declaration for wildfire danger