Numerous Brush Fires Strain Texas Volunteers

Oct. 04--RAYMONDVILLE -- Recent wildfires and brush fires fueled by this year's drought conditions have taxed manpower, equipment and fuel budgets in Willacy, Cameron and Hidalgo counties.

"They definitely have been a lot busier this year than the fire department has been in the past," said Frank Torres, Willacy County emergency management coordinator, who previously also was Raymondville fire chief.

"It's probably the worst year I can remember," Torres said, adding that fighting brush fires results in a lot of wear and tear on fire trucks.

"It's very rough terrain, there's a lot of brush, huisache, you see a lot of punctured tires. It's very sandy," he said.

Fighting brush fires is tough on volunteer firefighters, Torres said.

"There's some operations that last for 10 or 12 hours," he said. Marathon firefighting is tough on volunteers, their families and employers.

"We have very tolerant community-oriented employers," Torres said.

Raymondville Fire Chief Oscar Gutierrez said he also believes this year has set a record.

"We've had a total of 95 brush fires from Jan. 1 though Aug. 31," Gutierrez said.

When firefighters aren't actually fighting fires, they spend a lot of time repairing their trucks and equipment, the chief said.

"It gets expensive," Gutierrez said of repairs.

Although Willacy County and the city of Raymondville pay for parts on a 50-50 basis, firefighters do as much of the mechanical work themselves as possible, the chief said.

Willacy County Judge John F. Gonzales Jr. said last year's county budget of $25,000 to assist the Raymondville department, and smaller volunteer fire departments in Lasara, Sebastian and Santa Monica, has been doubled to $50,000 for the new fiscal year.

The $50,000 allocated this year will fund the three smaller departments and will pay half the Raymondville Volunteer Fire Department's budget, he said.

Torres said he often sends an ambulance to brush fires because firefighters could suffer from heat exhaustion, adding even more to the cost of fighting brush fires.

In Cameron County, fire departments are paid varying amounts to cover rural areas with funding from the Cameron County Emergency Services District budget, county Emergency Management Coordinator Humberto Barrera said.

The county's only other role is to operate the county fire marshal's office, which investigates suspicious fires such as an large blaze at a non-approved tire storage areas on Aug. 1 near San Benito.

San Benito Fire Marshal Henry Lopez said the cost of fighting the fire, which occupied several fire departments for two days, was about $10,000.

But local fire departments must budget their own costs for rural fire fighting in Cameron County, Barrera said.

Unusual losses, such as the loss of a Rio Hondo VFD brush truck during a wildfire, must be covered by the city of Rio Hondo's insurance company, Barrera said.

Harlingen Fire Chief Mike Rinaldi said his department assisted in controlling the tire fire near San Benito but overall, rural wild fires did not place an extra strain on the Harlingen Fire Department this year.

La Feria Fire Department Capt. Dave Blackwell said La Feria firefighters assisted in rural brush fires this year, but did not spend an unusual amount of time or money fighting them.