Texas readies crews, equipment to deal with growing wildfire threat

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Within the last week, 64 wildfires burned more than 10,000 acres across Texas, so Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday he’s getting crews and equipment ready to respond of the threat of more happening.

“As the state continues to endure triple-digit temperatures and dry vegetation, Texas is deploying additional firefighting resources to assist communities that have increased wildfire activity,” Abbott said. “Texans are strongly urged to take all necessary precautions and heed the guidance of state and local officials to keep their families and their loved ones safe from wildfires.”

The governor said the Texas A&M Forest Service, which is tasked by the state to respond to wildfires, raised its wildland fire preparedness level to Level 3. That means the service rates wildfire activity as impacting several regions of the state because of drought, dry vegetation or frequent fire weather events.

According to the Texas A&M Forest Service, wildfire activity is expected to keep increasing in the north and northwest regions of the state, while the risk is growing toward east Texas, the eastern Hill Country and Central Texas.

“Local officials across the state have been requesting Texas A&M Forest Service resources more over the last few weeks,” Kari Hines, a program coordinator with the agency, said. “As people might have noticed, looking out their windows or walking to and from their cars, it is getting drier. It’s a typical August out there. Really, the northern half of the state is seeing more of the wildfire activity right now, though.”

The Texas Division of Emergency Management activated state firefighting resources, including more than 350 firefighters and support personnel, four helicopters with firefighting capability from the Texas Military Department and wildland fire support packages from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Asst. Chief Mark Moellenberg with Travis County ESD 2 in Pflugerville said his department already deployed one of its brush trucks as well as three firefighters to help put out wildfires burning near Abilene.

“Our wildfire danger is increasing. It’s been extremely hot, as everybody knows. It is drying out. We haven’t had rain since the tail end of July,” Moellenberg said. “July was great because we got plenty of rain, but that moisture is gone now, so our grasses are drying out really quickly. And the other side of that is as they kept growing further into the summer, because of all the moisture in July, we have a heavy fuel load out there, particularly in our grass fuels, but they’re drying out.”

As his crews prepare to battle more wildfires, Moellenberg insists people should act now to reduce the risk at their homes. He said that includes taking care of their properties, like keeping their lawns mowed and clearing away tall brush or built-up debris close to their homes.

He and other first responders also advise people to plan out how they would escape, if necessary, by doing things like learning the fire evacuation routes in their neighborhood and keeping important documents in a place where they can grab them if they have to leave home quickly.

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