Travis County Commissioners Court

August 7, 2012 - Item 1
Agenda

Item number 1, consider and take appropriate action on an order considering outdoor burning in the unincorporated areas of Travis County.

>> Good morning, judge, Commissioners.
Herschel Lee, Travis County fire marshal.
The drought index for Travis County on average today is 447, and that's going to go up this morning when they reevaluate it at 10:00.
But on average that's been going up 10 to 13 points a day.
And what the drought index means to us, this is a measurement of the amount of moisture that's available in the top eight inches of soil.
So the grasses, small fuels, weeds, those things no longer have moisture available to them to continue growth and those small fuels are drying out, drying out very quickly now.
For the short-term forecast, the next ten days, around 100-degree days, humidity is dropping down into the 30 and 40% range in the afternoons.
The low humidity is a time when fires spread very quickly.
So expect it to get much drier.
The long-term forecast, the meteorologists are saying 50/50.
It might be wet or it might be dry.
So there's no real good feeling about this going to get better very quickly.
Texas forester is rise has Travis County listed as moderate fire danger, but when you get to the western Travis County line, from there west is severe fire danger.
So we are right on the edge of being in the severe category.
The small fuels are abundant because we've had some rain earlier in the year.
So this is a time we need to be very cautious.
Some cautions for the public, hot work.
Hot work will continue to be allowed even if a burn ban is enacted, but there are some strong stipulations, regulations of how that hot work should be conducted.
If you are going to be cooking outdoors and disposing of ashes from solid fuel cooking, those ashes need to be out, cold, wet.
Maintenance of equipment.
Hay baler fires, there has been some grass that's been growing so we're seeing a number of fires due to equipment maintenance problems. Mowing along the roadways.
Mowers striking rocks or just improper maintenance of bearings, those type things are causing problems. The fire departments locally are also reporting a number of small roadside fires.
Sometimes that's from mowing, sometimes it's from wheel bearings, but sometimes it's from discarding a cigarette.
So keep the cigarette bullets inside the camp my recommendation is to institute a person burn for unincorporated Travis County in the order that's been prepared I left with safely this morning, if it's approved, would not expire until September 5th.

>> Questions, comments?

>>

>> [inaudible] ...
To protect their homes and other structural activity that they have in a certain area.
So what actually is being done in that educational effort to make folks be aware of what we're doing here with the burn ban and all of the other things that they can do to be proactive in this situation instead of having to be reactive after it's almost too late.
What's being done in that regard?

>> We have several different brochures on our website, the Travis County fire marshal website, as well as a number of the esds have websites and brochures available on there with cautions about cooking and maintenance.
The ready, set go brochure is one of the things that's been out for a while and is available on the website and also from Texas forest service to educate people about what to do in the event a fire does happen.
But I'm thinking of this as common sense things, Commissioner.
The farmers have been working farms for a long time, but now the equipment has more bearings and belts and equipment maintenance is very important, especially to a farmer.
Not just to keep the equipment running, but to prevent fires.
Same is true with mowing.
Another fire occurred yesterday probably because of a manufacture problem with a piece of equipment.
It wasn't -- it wasn't that it was improperly used, it just we have so many things that operate off electricity and gasoline nowadays that things happen.
So be observant -- excuse me, be observant, be careful any time you have things around that might start a fire.

>> Thank you.

>> Move to -- go ahead.
Are you done?

>> Was there any effort made, especially I'm thinking about the wildfires that we experienced before.
Has there been any effort made to let folks know about those fuels that are very -- well, they are very intense, can become very intense with fire or a spark around the homes, was there any attempt to cut maybe shrubs or whatever it is around their homes to make sure that if there is fire, it would not get to their dwellings and other structural concerns?

>> There are a number of pro showers --

>> -- to do that also?
I'm just asking.

>> There are a number of brochures talking about the dangers of that and how to provide a safety zone around your home.
But that so far -- and most of the areas of Travis County it's been left up to the homeowners.
A number of fire departments have been going out with the homeowners associations and educating and pointing out and doing surveys about how to -- or which trees to cut and what products to use to harden your home.
So there have been a number of the fire departments that are going out and actually looking at homes with homes associations and making recommendations.

>> Okay.

>> But the ready, set, go brochure, again, addresses those small fuels and how to harden your home, how to move the small fuels and things away from your home that would allow a fire to spread through your house.

>> Right.
And my point was to any time that we have an opportunity to reveal or explore or either open up the door to some of these solutions or recommendations, I think we need to do that, more so now than ever with the severe drought that we're in.
I just think it's very critical that we expose ourselves to as many opportunities as we possibly can to let the folks know that there are ways that you can help -- help us in this regard prevent wildfires and other things like that and the destruction of property and possible life.

>> That's correct.
And we are pretty much past the point now where you would be able to discard of those fuels by burning, but if you still have fuels, you still need to get them removed and get them away from your house.
So you won't be able to discard of them by burning, composting or landfills.
If you have small fuels in those zones around your homes, they still need to be cleared.

>> Exactly.
Thank you.

>> Commissioner Huber.

>> I just wanted to add to what the fire marshal was talking about about equipment starting fires.
Something as seemingly innocuous as a weed eater can start a fire.
We had a fire in western Travis County last year that was started by the pull of the spark from the weed eater on the ground and before they could get the water to put out the small fire, it was out of control.
So just I think everybody needs to question themselves about each -- each action that could cause a spark.

>> It's a time to be very diligent.

>> I make a motion that we follow the fire marshal's recommendation and impose a ban against outdoor burning in unincorporated areas of Travis County.
Seconded by Commissioner Davis.
Any discussion on the motion?
All in favor?
That passes by unanimous vote.

>> Thank you.

>> It will be back on next week in case we need it.

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