Travis County Commissioners Court
February 3, 2009, 2009
Item 1
Number 1.
consider and take -- pete baldwin or joe gieselman or danny hobby near?
number 1 is to consider and take appropriate action regarding the prohibition of outdoor burning in the unincorporated areas of Travis County.
pete didn't put this on, I did, in response to -- I think that I got a phone call or two from residents wondering what was going on.
so I thought that I would put it on so we could give them an official response.
>> good morning, pete baldwin, Travis County emergency management coordinator.
on my right herschel lee, assistant fire marshal.
judge, there actually has been no change.
in fact -- well, there has been change, it's gotten worse.
as of Friday, last Friday, governor perry signed a state disaster declaration due to the extreme threat of wildfires, which includes Travis County.
it also includes 151 other counties throughout Texas.
our brought index is still climb.
on our average we are at 676, if you remember, the -- the -- the scale itself goes from 0 to 800.
so we're on an average of 676.
however, if you look at the map, you will see nearly full eastern third of Travis County is well over 700.
we are in such a deficit, such a dry period that -- that our one hour fuel moistures, that's the little fine grasses, the -- the stuff that died during the -- during the freezes and all of that, fuel moisture content on that is less than 4%.
now, what does that mean?
if you go down here to the hardware store and buy a piece of lumber that's been kiln dried, about 12% moisture donate.
what we have on the ground out there is less than four.
the bottom line is we have not had any significant rain.
we are reading recently, too, that the la nina pattern, which normally means drier, warmer weather for central Texas and this whole southern -- central southern area is starting to increase.
they are expecting it to be at least another five to six months before -- before la nina begins to back off some.
so -- so we're not expecting a whole lot of -- of good news between now and maybe mid summer or even later.
we expect to get some rain, but -- but we're not looking for those rains that we have seen a year ago when we had all that rain during the springtime.
so -- so bottom line is, then I'll let herschel talk about some of the recent fires that we've had here.
the bottom line is it would be our recommendation, we would be back next week with a new outdoor burning ban, unless something dramatically happens is that it is still very dangerous, it's endangers public property, it endangers private property, it endangers lives when people are starting, you know, wants to burn things, they get out of control.
these dry northern fronts that we have been getting through have just exacerbated the problem.
because as we all know, wind is the engine that drives that fire.
so we're -- we're starting to see more and more roadside starts, which is very indicative of something our fuels being very dry.
cigarettes, need to stay in the car.
you know, do not drive into high grasses with the hot engines, catalytic converters have been known to set those off, too.
but that's the overview of where we are.
and our condition and why we have kept this outdoor burning ban on and recommended to you that it remain in effect.
and I know herschel, would you like to address some of the --
>> on Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon, our office was actually called to four different fire incidents and typically our office is only called when there's not a sheriff's deputy that's readily available or fire is suspicious or they know that someone set is intentionally.
the fires that started one of them was children, the others were fires that people just should not have been lighting and those fires got away, burning up to a number of acres and a couple of vehicles.
>> so what kind of rain do we need to see?
because apparently a few people kind of watching the weather and -- also watching I guess waste accumulate that they hope to burn at some point.
based on your description, you are talking about a heavy, heavy, heavy, soaking, soaking -- rain that --
>> that's the key word, judge.
soaking.
if we were to get two inches of rain in the next three hours, it's not going to benefit us much because it doesn't allow time for the ground and the rules to absorb that moisture.
what we really need is that three to four day two to three inches of rain spread out over that period of time to allow the moisture to be absorbed into some of the fuels.
now the problem we have, though, is all defined fuels on the ground right now are dead.
and they may absorb a little bit of moisture, but the next dry cold front comes through, they're going to dry out because they're dead.
we won't see any significant relief until we get into spring, that's what we call the green up period.
that's when you get your new growth.
so -- so we've got to make sure people understand that it's a very dangerous situation and they need to be very careful in their outdoor activities.
and currently it is our recommendation back by the fire chiefs that we remain under an outdoor burning ban.
>> let's say that I have accumulated stuff that I like to burn and I have those big barrels that you see from time to time especially in rural areas.
would I load that into the barrel and burn.
>> if we have covered under the rules by the outdoor burning ban, it says in the container designed to contain all sparks and flames.
so if it contains all sparks and flames, then theoretically yes, you can burn it.
>> but even that's not the safest because of -- of sparks.
>> right now, it is just not safe to burn anything.
>> cold weather doesn't help.
>> no, sir, all cold weather does is usually bring us drier humidity or lower humidity and drier air which then dries out everything even more.
>> residents, you heard it from the primary sources.
fire marshal in the emergency services director.
>> we need some rain.
>> yes, sir.
>> it's terrible out there.
we really do need some rain, hopefully April will bring us rain, but there's no guarantee that's going to happen either, though.
thank you.
>> well, unless something dramatic happens, instead of having a full discussion next week, we may as well go ahead and on consent approve another order, the order has been placed 30 days and -- monthly we have to renew them unless we decide not to.
>> we will send all of you information later this week if anything, or first thing Monday if anything should happen to develop, but right now our long-term forecasts are not indicating that we have got that kind of relief in sight.
>> okay.
>> we did get a copy of the proclamation from the governor declaring many, many counties in Texas, including travis, to be in a state of disaster.
because of extreme fire hazard.
that poses a threat of imminent disaster and he says the following counties and lists about 150 of them.
>> about 151 I believe, sir.
>> travis is permanently displayed right there in the middle of them.
>> yes, sir.
>> judge Biscoe, I would just ask that the press make an issue of people throwing out lit cigarettes out of their cars.
i live out southwest and the last week I've had three people in front of me throw out lit cigarettes and I want to be deputized but nobody is willing to give me a gun.
but it's --
>> [laughter] such a high fire risk and we know that that's one of the main causes is lit cigarettes.
so -- the press may a big deal of -- make a big deal of that because it's really dangerous.
>> that request is from our purchasing agent who is a powerful person in Travis County.
>> [laughter]
>> keep your butts in the car.
>> we have got bumper stickers for that.
>> that's the slogan.
>> thank you very much.
>> thank you.
>> thank y'all.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 2:36 PM