TX Fire Department Crafts Wildfire Plan

Oct. 04 -- The Amarillo Fire Department has completed its Community Wildfire Protection Plan, which officials said enhances efforts to reduce wildfire risk while also saving lives, homes and other property.

"As you all have noticed over the last 10 to 15 years, we've had a decided shift in severe fire weather patterns, as well as drought, and it's forced us to take a much more focused look at the way we approach wildfires," Amarillo Fire Chief Jeff Greenlee said during a recent presentation before the Amarillo City Council. "Two years ago we started on a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, which is a very broad look at how we approach these things. Now the plan is ready for implementation."

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the CWPP is a concept defined in the state's Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 and used as a mitigation tool for use in the wake of the ever expanding Wildland Urban Interface – noting as communities expand into once rural areas, the risks of wildfires and associated damage increases. AFD officials said Amarillo has an increasing number of residential settings that fit the Wildland Urban Interface dynamic, where homes intermix with wild vegetation and lend to greater occurrences of fuel loading – which is defined as the amount of flammable material that surrounds a fire, such as trees, underbrush and dry grassy fields. The plan also assists the department in establishing relationships to get city, county, state and federal partners on one accord prior to a potential wildfire event occurring.

"It helps us to develop pre-attack plans, so that once these people are in place, we can all get on that plan and do what we do for the citizens," AFD District Chief Joe Ward said. "We have identified 200-plus communities and neighborhoods that are at-risk for a wildfire event. It's safer for our guys once they're on the ground fighting fire and the citizens as well."

Officials said the plan, which has been approved by the Texas Forest Service, covers a five-mile wide perimeter around Amarillo and has fostered identification of sites where fuel loading can be reduced, developed training needs and provided insight with regard to community cleanup initiatives.

"This is one of our biggest threats in this area, with wildfires," City Manager Jared Miller said. "We've invested a lot of time, effort and resources to train not only our personnel, but also to coordinate with other agencies in the area so that we can effectively combat a wildfire. We commend the department for its work."

AFD officials said crafting the plan entailed conducting 21 stakeholder meetings, as well as eight team training sessions focusing on neighborhood assessments, in addition to input from the city, the Fire Marshal, Building Safety, Public Works, Solid Waste, Parks and Recreation and the Bureau of Land Management, among others.

"The truth is, we are counting on you guys to keep us safe on all of these things we're not thinking about," Mayor Ginger Nelson said. "And being ahead and thinking of them for us does keep us safe. We appreciate you."

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