Since 2003, Texas A&M Forest Service has assisted the National Fire Protection Association® (NFPA) with the Firewise USA® program.

“The Firewise USA program encourages residents to take responsibility for protecting their homes from wildfire,” said Kari Hines, Firewise coordinator at Texas A&M Forest Service. “By working together with their neighbors to become a Firewise USA® site, communities are increasing the protected area, which will make a great difference.”

Through this program, Texas A&M Forest Service educates communities on the steps they can take to better protect their homes from a wildfire and lower their wildfire risk.

Wildfires are a concern all season long and Texas has joined the list of states that need to be proactive in preparations for wildland fire. According to the Insurance Information Institute for the 2018 fire season:

Texas ranked first in the number of wildfires with more than 10,500 reported for the year; California ranked second with more than 8,000 wildfires. Texas ranked sixth in number of acres burned with more than 560,000 acres burned. California was first with more than 1.8 million acres burned. Texas ranked second of the most wildfire-prone states with the greatest number of homes at risk (more than 715,000 home); California ranked first with more than 2 million homes at risk.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), through their Firewise USA Program, encourages residents living in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) to work together with their neighbors in managing the safety of their homes and properties against wildfire risks and educates residents about actions they can take to accomplish that goal.

“By creating defensible space around your property, not only are you helping protect your home, family and community, but also potentially any firefighters that are there as well,” said Hines. “The benefits that come from hardening your home and the area surrounding it are invaluable.”

The Ranches of Brushy Top, north of Blanco, is one of the 100 Texas Firewise sites, and achieved its certification in 2015.

Rosie Ruff, Firewise coordinator for the Brushy Top community says, “The Firewise program is very well supported by the Texas A&M Forest Service. Their WUI Specialists have been a great help to our community with offering advice, supplying brochures and presenting Firewise programs at our Community Wildfire Preparedness Day events held annually on the first Saturday of May.”

One of the first things the Forest Service did for the Brushy Top community was to complete a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) assessment for landowners.

“They identify a home ignition zone as anything within 100 feet surrounding a home or building,” Ruff said,” and then they work out from there on fire mitigation steps for the community, including developing individual wildfire action plans plus one for the community that includes an evacuation plan in addition to helping identify areas that need attention in common areas.”

Ruff said the Brushy Top property owners initially formed a Firewise committee to pursue certification and that now prioritizes fire mitigation projects in the community and plans workdays.

“Our local first responders are very supportive and responsive to our needs,” Ruff said. “Blanco Fire Department’s Chief McMain, Captain Charles with Blanco EMS, County Commissioner Chris Liesmann and Mike Megna at the Blanco County Office of Emergency Management and a Blanco County Master Gardener have all attended our community Firewise events with information for our community.”

Blanco County ESD No. 2’s Fire Chief Matt McMain is more than happy to support the Firewise program.

“The program makes sense for our rural property owners,” he said. “We wish more communities and developments in the county would enter the program.”

“We worked with the Brush Top property owners’ association to designate a burning area, for example, that is written into their covenants. It would help cut down on the number of out-of-control burns we respond to in other communities if they would require burning brush piles only in designated areas.”

Chief McMain also says that Texas A&M Forest Service rewards fire departments with Firewise communities in their service areas with significant discounts on fire-fighting equipment.

Ruff says her interest in native plants and habitat helped drive her interest in wildfire mitigation and vegetation management after she and her husband bought land in Brushy Top and made the move to Blanco County from the Houston area.

“We have 146 lots in Brushy Top that are five to 75 acres in size, with 50 homes and about 100 landowners,” Ruff said. “Of course, we wouldn’t be a Firewise USA community without the support of Ranches of Brushy Top landowners who are dedicated to managing their properties effectively and to the safety of our Brushy Top community.”

The Brushy Top property owners hold monthly Community Project Days to help keep up with mitigation activities eight months out of the year to address designated areas that need attention.

“We spend a Saturday morning trimming and limbing up oak trees around our Welcome Center and common area as part of the process of demonstrating our commitment to the Firewise program and maintaining our annual Firewise status,” Ruff said.

She said that volunteer hours are recorded and turned in to the Firewise program annually to meet the requirement of 50 hours of labor spent in mitigation activities for the year.

“It’s not a difficult process to complete the application and get certified as a Firewise program,” Ruff said, “and the yearly renewal is as easy as getting credit for hours by noting when a property owner mows the home ignition zone area.”

“The firewise.org website has excellent information and guides to becoming a Firewise USA community,” Ruff said.

“Remember that if your community is not a Firewise USA® site, you can help start the process and protect your area from possible wildfires late this summer,” Hines said.

Visit http://bit.ly/2M7dycE to learn more about NFPA’s Firewise USA® program and http://bit.ly/2mXnWoA to learn more about wildfire prevention and mitigation in Texas.