FIRE | Preparing for Disaster
By Nicole Lane Erceg
When the unimaginable strikes, it’s best to be prepared. The citizens of Bastrop County had no way of knowing that wildfire would threaten their community on 3 occasions in the past 6 years. That didn’t stop their leaders from putting together a plan, just in case.
In 2008, before wildfires became a regular threat to the city of Bastrop, the Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management, along with other city leadership, created a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). This document identified the potential threat of wildfire, along with how the community might react to the threat.
In 2011, threat became a reality when Bastrop County played host to an unwelcome guest. The Bastrop Fire Complex destroyed more than 1,600 homes and killed 2 people, making it one of the most devastating wildfires in Texas history.
However, the situation could have been worse if community leadership had not been prepared. The CWPP helped arm emergency response personnel with valuable information like evacuation routes and critical water sources. The plan even included a structure inventory and an evaluation of the emergency response capabilities. With a plan already in place, key stakeholders were prepared to collaborate to save lives, homes and begin the process of recovery after the threat subsided.
The Bastrop CWPP looks a bit different than it did when they began the planning stages in 2003, but the plan and the relationships it has built have continued to save structures, land and lives. The plan is now more detailed and the leadership more experienced. Mitigation and recovery strategies continue and education and outreach are prioritized. For the community of Bastrop, the CWPP has continued to serve its purpose and evolve as it continues to change and face new types of wildfire threat.
A growing threat
In Texas, the threat of wildfire is frequently becoming more of a “when” than an “if” probability. The state population continues to soar and what were once small communities are now expanding into traditionally rural areas. Combined with a lack of rain and dry summer heat, the rural landscape becomes a tinderbox, with a house serving as a mass of kindling on its borders. The threat has never been more imminent. From 1985 to 2000, the Texas Forest Service responded to only 1 wildfire of 5,000 acres or more. However, between 2000 and 2015, the organization has dealt with a fire of that size at least once per year. In 2008, 27 fires of that size, or larger, were battled by the Texas Forest Service, and in 2011, the number was 76.
“Historically, looking back 20 years, no one looked at Texas as a wildfire state,” says Logan Scherschel, a Texas Forest Service urban wildfire interface specialist. “In the past 20 years, we’ve seen an explosion in growth in rural areas and an increase in fires. We’ve had a lot of acres burn and lost a lot of homes, and that has put us on the map as a state that has a wildfire issue.”
Scherschel also shares that 79 percent of wildfires occur within 2 miles of an established community. The leading cause? Humans. The most frequent ignition source is debris burning that gets out of control.
For the many private landowners across the state, not only are their homes at risk, but their livelihoods as well. As urban sprawl encroaches on Texas farms and ranches, a wildfire has the potential to destroy a family business built by multiple generations.
“Wildfire mitigation can’t be just one person or one group,” advises Kari Hines, an urban wildfire interface specialist with the Texas Forest Service. “In a state with high private land ownership, it’s important to protect your land, your hay, your cattle and your neighbors. When we can get everyone together behind a plan, it can be very successful.”
The need for CWPPs across the state is growing and the Texas Forest Service urban wildfire interface specialists like Hines and Scherschel help communities through the process of creating a plan that fits their needs. Often the creation of a CWPP starts with an urban wildfire interface specialist contacting a fire chief to inform him or her of the program and help the community begin the plan. However, the Texas Forest Service can’t make the plan or force a community to start one, no matter how high the threat. The decision falls to community leadership and a proclamation must be made by city government to begin a CWPP.
“I can’t tell people what to do with their land,” says Hines. “However, taking action to prevent the threat of wildfires on homes, communities, farms and ranches comes from a place of heart. We care about these communities and often live in them; a CWPP is just another form of protection.”
An uphill battle
Through community involvement, informed citizens, prepared stakeholders and a CWPP, Bastrop is more prepared than ever to protect the community against wildfire.
Bastrop County continues to be plagued by wildfire. Their latest wildfire (Hidden Pines) struck in October 2015. However, the planning has helped their community fight back when threatened.
The response to the 2015 fire was very different from the fires in 2011. The Hidden Pines fire was extinguished with no lives lost and 64 homes burned. The fire was still a disheartening disaster for the community, but due to experience and a CWPP, they were better prepared to respond. In a final case study analysis of the Hidden Pines Fire, data show that 87 percent of the homes threatened by the fire were saved by mitigation actions of fire departments. This analysis also identified mitigation actions that could be done to prevent future fires and these were addressed in the CWPP.
As the threat of wildfire continues to grow for other communities around Texas, more communities are beginning to prepare for a similar disaster.
Hines says that landowners in rural counties play a crucial role in helping create and carry out CWPPs. Involvement can include participating in fuel mitigation strategies such as prescribed burns, landscaping changes and fuel reduction. Hines also says that landowners are often the least likely stakeholder to participate in the creation and execution of a CWPP, but farmers and ranchers, especially those with land close to communities, have the most at stake and a huge opportunity to help protect their community.
“The more rural the county, the more vital a landowner’s role will be in protecting their home and sometimes the community.”
Creating a plan
The process of putting a plan together can be as short as 6 months with the help of the Texas Forest Service along with key community leadership and private citizens, but the time stakeholders spend working together is truly valuable.
“Creating a Community Wildfire Protection Plan brings the community and stakeholders together,” says Hines. “You don’t want the first time you meet these people to be when you are trying to recover from something disastrous.”
So what all does a CWPP entail? For the most part, that’s completely up to the community creating the plan. The plan begins with a risk assessment.
“It’s important to find out the risks to the community first,” says Scherschel. “How likely is the community to experience a wildfire? Are there homes that could be lost, or large tracts of land that might burn? It’s important to find out what is out there that needs to be protected.”
Once the threats, valuable resources and response abilities are identified, the community begins to work out how to mitigate the threats. This can include prescribed burning, home improvements to remove potential fuel, and government and city officials reducing the threats created by public parks or land.
Planning committees also consider future community growth, zoning issues, and where future developments will be made. Analysis is often conducted of emergency services and land topography, and predictions are made on how a fire might behave when threatening the community. The Texas Forest Service helps provide technology and information that helps communities base their plan on fire history in the area and analyze potential hazardous fuel sources.
“A Community Wildfire Protection Plan helps a community understand threats, what the community is capable of going about those threats and have a plan of action to allow a better community response when something happens,” Hines says.
A CWPP can also include public outreach and education, identification of funding sources to help with hazardous fuel reduction and recovery strategies for a community to have a plan to bounce back from disaster.
Some communities may be unprepared to begin the mitigation strategies, but the process of creating a plan leads to additional resources for the community. Scherschel cites a time when helping a community put together a CWPP led to additional training for the local firefighters.
“They wanted to be able to clear hazardous fuels, but the firefighters weren’t trained in how to use chain saws,” says Scherschel. “We were able to identify funding sources to get the firefighters additional training and help them carry out their hazardous fuel reduction.”
To get a CWPP started for your community, Hines and Scherschel recommend contacting local officials and the Texas Forest Service, where community stakeholders will be connected with the Urban Wildfire Interface Specialist in your area. -TC
“Preparing for Disaster” is from the November 2016 issue of The Cattleman magazine.