City continues to work on wildfire mitigation strategies

The public may not have noticed, but Austin-Travis County had 963 different brush and grass fire alarms in September, Assistant Fire Chief Andre de la Reza told members of the city’s Public Safety Commission on Monday. The department was able to handle those without requiring anyone to evacuate their homes, but the number demonstrates that fire has become an ever-present danger for Austinites.

Justice Jones, Austin Fire Department’s wildfire mitigation officer, reported that the department continues to work with other city departments, including Austin Energy, the Parks and Recreation Department, Austin Water, and Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Jones told the committee the department has received a federal grant to update the city’s current community wildfire management plan. Those funds will help to establish new goals and enhance the community’s wildfire resilience.

This spring, the Austin Monitor reported that the city had 23 community wildfire protection plans in place and was working to establish another 24. Those numbers remain the same, according to Jones’ presentation.

Jones emphasized working with different parts of the community to help them prepare for the possibility of a wildfire in their neighborhood. He said the city continues to receive requests for town hall presentations on wildfire preparedness.

Chris Vetromile is Austin Energy’s new program manager for wildfire mitigation. He noted that he has been with the utility for only two months, but worked at the Fire Department for four years before that. At AE, he is a department of one and the program is in its infancy. He noted, “We’re going to follow the national wildfire mitigation plan and tweak it.” Part of that national plan includes robust vegetation management. A recent audit showed that the utility was far behind in its tree-trimming program, but Vetromile did not mention that.

One commissioner asked whether AE had enough crews to cover all the needed tree trimming. Vetromile said they had seven but could use more. He also explained that because most vegetation needing to be trimmed was on private property, the utility had to ask permission to trim the trees. Sometimes that proves difficult and occasionally the utility has to ask police to get involved.

Austin Energy plans to work on hardening its infrastructure, Vetromile said. For example, lines can be covered with materials less likely to create a spark if a tree branch falls on them, he said. He said the utility is also looking at new technology to help manage circuits quickly when there is a fire and turn power back on when the fire has been extinguished.

Sherri Kuhl, who oversees Austin Water’s Wildland Conservation Division, said her department’s role is to make sure they are part of the fire-adaptive community. She said they are working to reduce fuel and provide better access for firefighters when there is a fire. “All of our workers and volunteers have to do a wildfire prevention plan,” she said.

One thing that volunteers do to help assess the fire risk of certain wildland areas is collect samples to see how much moisture is in the trees. Kuhl noted that they work with the Lower Colorado River Authority and the Pedernales Co-op in maintaining vegetation on their properties.

She said they have been assessing wildfire risk at all of Austin Water’s facilities. She reported that tree trimming at Ullrich Water Treatment Plant has been prioritized.

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