AFD's SIZE wildfire prevention evaluation: How it helps prevent homes from burning
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Jennifer Marchman's was worried about wildfire risk to her home, so she decided to start looking into ways to prevent one from destroying it.
Marchman, who lives in the greenbelt, said she requested a Structure Ignition Zone Evaluation (SIZE) from the Austin Fire Department.
"They gave me a very thorough report and actionable things I could do to prevent our house from burning," Marchman said in a post on Nextdoor. "If you're worried about us being the next L.A., particularly if you live next to a greenbelt, you can request your own SIZE evaluation...The more people who take precautions, the more we will all be protected."
City Cast Austin, a local news and culture podcast that covers Austin-related issues, spoke with AFD's wildfire division Assistant Chief Carrie Stewart on Monday. This was ahead of what the Texas Wildfire Service is calling a historic wildfire risk day.
Stewart was asked how scary it was to watch LA fires in January, knowing Central Texas has a similar wildfire risk.
"We know that we should expect to have similar circumstances, we do expect to have similar simultaneous starts, just like they saw in Los Angeles," Stewart said. "Our topography is a little bit different here, so we wouldn't see exactly the same event go down. But, we would expect to see those multiple simultaneous starts, all over our region, because we would be receptive to wildfires all at the same times, for reasons that our fuel moistures would be low, our temperatures would be hotter, our relative humidity would be lower."
Marchman said she wanted to organize a neighborhood cleanup for the dead brush behind her home. However, she was told there are restrictions due to it being park land, and wasn't allowed to do that.
In the meantime, Marchman said she plans to look for ways to get her neighbors together to do what they can.
"I'm still just taking baby steps," Marchman said. "A wildfire is going to do what it's going to do, but we can do the small things to protect ourselves and each other."
There are 24 communities in Austin considered "Firewise," meaning they're doing a better job of preparing to prevent wildfires.