Travis County Commissioners Court
January 24, 2006
Item 4
4. Consider and take appropriate action regarding the prohibition of outdoor burning in the unincorporated areas of Travis County. We did have a little rain this past weekend.
>> pete baldwin, emergency services coordinator. With emphasis on little, yes, sir, we did. Complete agreement. However, it was not enough. We -- we met with our fire chiefs yesterday at the fire chief association meeting and it was unanimous consent that they are requesting that both items, we haven't called to set one up yet, both items burn ban and disaster declaration be left in place for at least one more week. We do have a shot at rain coming up in the weekend. Possibly another half inch, one inch that may make a difference on it. But what we got spread out over the county throughout our index is still in the mid six hundreds, we still continue to run fires as of the 20th -- let's see here, as of the 22nd. The city and county have run and responded to over 207 fires, that's anywhere from small grass fires on the side of the road, up to 80, 90 acres, 200 acres, whatever they get going. We are still being -- we are still seeing those kinds of starts, seeing a lot of activity, a lot of smoke investigations. People are very, very concerned. They are calling in and in fact we've had reports of running on a smoke investigation to find that it's cedar pollen for smoke investigation. People are very, very attuned to the situation. It is a recommendation of the fire chiefs and the department of emergency services that we leave the outdoor burning ban in effect.
>> this is outdoors uncovered?
>> yes, sir.
>> even if you have a covered fire, though, you should exercise caution.
>> extreme caution. Have water source nearby, you know, watch -- watch -- use common sense. I keep saying that, but we need to have a water source nearby, no open flames and be attentive to the -- to it, don't walk off and leave it.
>> okay. Mr. Broussard, anything in addition?
>> Travis County fire marshal. No, there's -- just that the fire chiefs did feel that it's important that we keep both bans in place to protect the citizens of Travis County. As well as to assist them in their duties.
>> okay. This is not us harassing our residents, conditions really are -- really are very, very dry.
>> they are extreme.
>> if you have a fire outside, it's just a bad time, really.
>> yes, sir, judge. Another interesting fact to point out, in the first two weeks of January, the state of Texas, we have burned over 244,000 acres, that is more than we burned in the entire year of 2005. So -- so the conditions are extreme. And it's primarily the drought is concentrated up through the central part of Texas, up in the north central Texas, dallas/fort worth metroplex area. But it is still extremely dry and until we get some significant rain, that -- that indication is not going to change.
>> we have been lucky here in that we have not lost any lives or homes like some parts of the state, but there have been a lot of grass fires, some have come pretty close to homes, right?
>> yes, sir. I want to congratulate and give a pat on the back to our fire departments out there. All of them, because one of the premises that we use in attacking fires is to attack them quickly with a lot of resources get them knocked down quickly. In other words, I’m proud to say that -- that a lot of that turf issue that we used to see years and years ago, has long gone away. A and now it's call for help early and often. And we try to get on them and get them knocked down quickly so that they do not get big. I would just like to acknowledge the presence of chief gary warren, we are used to seeing him as chief gary warren from the Austin fire department, he's moved a little bit west. It's nice to see you here. I appreciate your support here.
>> so --
>> that will be easier. By taking no action, we leave in place the -- the order prohibiting outdoor burning in your honor incorporated areas that we put in place last week or the week before.
>> we will leave this on the agenda in case we have heavy rains and are able to cancel the order. Anything else on number 4?
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Last Modified:
Wednesday, January 25, 2006 9:19 AM