(College Station)—After 515 days of wildfire response, Texas Forest Service closed the book Sept. 19 on the worst fire season on record for the state. The latest season actually began on January 1, 2005, with little to no reprieve from major, sustained fire activity until Sept. 19.
However, since April 22, 2005, statewide conference calls have been held on almost a daily basis to coordinate and plan the attack on the dangerous fire season that lasted beyond the normal two month period.
The fire season-ending rainfall event that occurred in Texas was the fifth such consecutive front containing substantial rainfall to pass through the state in the past several weeks. These fronts have served to moderate fire activity to a level well within local response capacity, rather than the extended attack, large statewide fire response that included bringing in almost 4,000 out-of-state personnel and 500 pieces of equipment from all 50 states.
“The local fire departments are the first responders to wildland fires in Texas,” said Mark Stanford, chief of fire operations for Texas Forest Service. “However, if they determine that their capacity to control the fire is exceeded, they request suppression assistance from us. We are called on to manage the situation and fight these fires along side of the local firefighters.”
Since January 1, 2005, Texas Forest Service has responded to 4,456 fires that burned 1,601,405 acres. That is over and above the 24,685 fires that burned 658,835 acres that were reported to Texas Forest Service’s Online Fire Reporting System by participating local fire departments.
Regrettably, 19 lives were lost since November 2005. In addition, 734 homes were lost, along with 1,320 other outbuildings. It is an estimated $628 million loss to the citizens of the state.
In the last scheduled conference call, Bobby Young, associate director and state fire chief, thanked the out-of-state personnel for their help and commended all the Texas Forest Service personnel who have made the sacrifices during the past 18 months to protect the state.
“You have put your lives on hold, and you have sacrificed time with
your families to do your jobs,” said Young. “I know your efforts
are appreciated by the executive team of Texas Forest Service, as well
as the citizens of Texas.” 