Travis County Commissioners Court
April 1, 2008
Item 2
2. Consider and take appropriate action on an order prohibiting outdoor burning in the unincorporated areas of Travis County.
>> good morning, pete baldwin Travis County emergency management coordinator.
>> good morning.
>> we've been fortunate enough that our humidities stayed. We have had winds but not those drying winds. Even though we have a lot of vegetation out there, we are still not in a position where I feel comfortable asking you to put a burn ban back in place. We are down in the low 4 hundreds, we normally start discussions about 500. There's been a lot of concern from residents calling in. They read the articles regarding the drought situation. We feel like we're probably headed into a drought, but we had better take advantage of staying out from under a ban while we can. So our green up is in good shape. With that recommendation, I’m saying that we don't need to put a burn ban back in place at this time.
>> pete, can we just summarize the steps that you go through to arrive at a decision? On what your recommendation would be to the court?
>> yes, sir.
>> I have gotten an e-mail talking about the criteria.
>> we regularly poll our fire chiefs and ask thement what kind of fires they are running, what types. How many. That gives us a good indication of conditions out in the county. We also go to the websites and look at our drought indexes, our kb drought indexes, also look at our fuel moistures, our 100 hour, 10 hour, look at the trends in those and basically take into consideration what our forecasts are coming up. With all of those put together, then we come to the conclusion or recommendation that we present to the court.
>> and where are the fire chiefs located?
>> the fire chiefs? Of all -- all fire chiefs throughout the county. Different parts of the county?
>> every fire chief in every part of the county, yes, sir, is polled.
>> okay. We have been having this on the agenda every Tuesday just in case there are changes that would cause us to change our position. So we can quickly impose an order if we need to.
>> yes, sir.
>> okay. So by taking no action, basically we are left without a -- without a burn ban for another week.
>> yes, sir.
>> we'll have it back on next Tuesday just in case the situation worsens.
>> yes, sir.
>> may I add something, judge?
>> yes, sir. Just so that people understand, the burn ban isn't the light switch that I think many people think that it is, that it turns on and off. There are state regulations that are in place every day. Many of the challenges that we have are people wanting to burn on days that are too windy. If the predicted wind speeds, predict being the important word there, going to be greater than 23 miles an hour, it isn't lawful to burn any day. On those days that it's high wind speeds, one can't legally burn anyway. They also of course statutorily need to contact their local fire department who will give them that amplifying information. So if they will contact their fire departments and be careful not to burn on windy days, then also be mindful of the weather. If say a Tuesday was a good day to burn, and the following Thursday we had a front with high winds that was going to ultimately bring in low humidities that wouldn't be an appropriate time to burn because in a couple of days you might very well be experiencing a rekindle. That in fact is the causation on many of our reburning fires.
>> do we think the average resident knows that -- what is it 23 degrees.
>> 23 miles an hour, yes, sir.
>> does the average person know that, do you think?
>> I don't believe so, sir. I don't think -- well, I don't think they are well aware of the state law that's in effect at all times. They just think if we have a burn ban or if we have -- we have had a good public awareness campaign over the years with the red flag warning and I think when people see red flag warning they know not to burn. But as far as the average person, I do not believe they understand that the -- that the Texas commission on environmental quality has rules, regulating outdoor burning every day of the year. No matter what we do.
>> so is it a criminal offense or is it just a --
>> it is a class c judge, yes, sir.
>> burned when the -- when the wind velocity is more than 23 miles an hour.
>> yes, predicted. And those -- those rules are all on the county's web page, fire marshal's web page. We do try to beat the drum. I would have to agree with baldwin. We do try to get that information out and to the media so they can pass it on.
>> that would be very confusing. You can imagine like if a front comes through blowing, I mean, it's a strong front, the wind my blow for an hour but ones the front gets through, does that mean that you shouldn't burn that day or that you -- that you shouldn't burn within that hour or, I mean, yeah you're right, I mean, I bet you there's not one out of 10,000 people that know that hey by the way if the wind blows beyond 23 miles an hour there us a constituent regulation that says that you cannot burn. That's the first I’ve ever heard of that. That makes sense.
>> would windy to play golf, too windy to burn. Remember that.
>> thank you, judge.
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Last Modified:
Wednesday, April 2, 2008 8:51 PM