20250219-003: Austin Wildfire Risk Presentation — original pdf

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CULTIVATING CLARITY: DECODING WILDFIRE NARRATIVES AND DEBUNKING MYTHS Austin’s Wildfire Risk How do we compare? Reconstruction Value: $40.6B Source: CoreLogic Wildfire Risk Report 2024 Why is Austin at Risk? • Austin is home to a unique combination of Wildland Intermix and Ember production probability • Intermixed layout and Structure-Structure spread makes Containment logistically challenging • Ongoing increase of Drought and Temp conditions • The “Big One” not likely to be large flame front, but many simultaneous community fires How will it happen? Embers Travel Up to 1.5 Miles How will it happen? Drought – Makes Soil and Live Fuel Moisture go down Wind – Is what primarily drives wildfire spread High temps – Increase ignition potential Overwhelmed resources before resources Overwhelm the Fire • 54 Pumping apparatus (Fire trucks in Austin) • Takes 4 to quickly overwhelm 1 house fire • Now imagine several small wildfires • Transition to triage Myth Austin Wildfires are not common Travis County Wildfire Occurrence In the fire-adapted ecosystems of the South, the issue is not whether an area will burn, but when it will burn and at what intensity. (Andreu and Hermansen-Baez 2006) Pinnacle Fire Burn Scar Steiner Ranch Fire 125 Acres 35 Homes Lost Pinnacle Fire 100 acres 10 homes lost 12 homes damaged Parmer Lane Fire, 2023 37 acres The Parmer Lane Fire impacted two different housing developments, an apartment complex and a neighborhood built with Wildland Urban Interface building codes that specifically address structural ignitability. Myth Trees are out to get me! Ashe Juniper Wildfire Myths  Junipers are hazardous  Junipers are invasive  Junipers are water hogs western forests  Junipers are more fire prone than other native species  Forests dominated by Juniper should be thinned like “Cedar is a gasoline soaked rag on a stick that will burn all our homes” “Fuel management means logging style clear cutting and burning that will dry out the soil and kill our forests and habitat” “Junipers forests are fire resistive so why are we worried?” Steiner Ranch Myth The wolf can’t blow my house down, it’s made of brick What to do? National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy What are we doing? Community Awareness and Preparedness • Firewise Communities • Warn Central Texas & Ready Set Go • Urban Planning/Zoning • Coalition between COA & Travis Co. Community Wildfire Protection Plan CWPP Structure Hardening • SIZE - Structure Ignition Zone Evaluation • WUI Code Started in 2020. Update in 2025 Wildland Mitigation • Healthy forestry management to reduce likelihood of ember producing and catastrophic fire • Strategically placed projects (for those Depts. that ARE being proactive) Response • RTI – Responding to the Interface Training for over 1100 AFD Fire Fighters • Battalion 5 – Strategically placed Equipment and Wildfire Trained FF • Evacuation Planning – In collaboration with HSEM and County Stakeholders WUI Proximity Classes Proximity Zone Includes Proximity Class A & B • Dark Blue indicates 0 to 150 feet from 40 acres + of wildland Ember Zone Includes Proximity Class C • Light Blue indicates up to 1.5 miles from 750 acres + of wildland Shaded Fuel Breaks Not the clear cutting everyone thinks Questions? David Bock Sr. Wildfire Mitigation Specialist Fire Resilient Landscapes david.bock@austintexas.gov