TEXAS 2008 FIRE SEASON Central Branch Significant Wildfire Report TEXAS 2008 WILDFIRE SEASON Central Branch Significant Wildfire Report Prepared by the Wildland Urban Interface Division Karen Ridenour—GIS Specialist II Landon Temple - Student Intern Jennifer Korn - Student Intern The purpose of this publication is to examine wildfires in the Central Branch that state and local resources responded to during the 2008 Wildfire Season. The Central Branch is a 39-county region located primarily in the Hill Country and Central Plains, as designated by the Texas Forest Service. Resources reported responding to 98 grass and 86 brush fires in the branch. There was a reported 24,996 acres of land lost. In comparison, only 2,477 acres of land were lost to 25 forest fires in the branch. This publication should provide federal, state and cooperative agencies, along with private industry in the wildland urban interface of the Central Branch, data necessary to make assessment and mitigation strategies within their communities. These assessments and strategies should be based on risk from wildfires in grass and brush fuel types. A brief overview of the 2008 Wildfire Season preludes the examination of significant wildfires that occurred in the Central Branch during the wildfire season. Appreciation goes out to the following individuals for their contributions in the preparation of this document: Jan Amen—Wildland Urban Interface Specialist Mike Dunivan—Fire Analyst I Jan Fulkerson—Wildland Urban Interface Specialist Rich Gray—Wildland Urban Interface Coordinator Arlene Kalmbach—Texas Parks and Wildlife March 1, 2009 Texas Forest Service (TFS) and volunteer fire departments across Texas responded to an extremely active wildfire season that resulted in the loss of millions of acres of both agriculture and forested lands and property losses exceeding, 1,100 homes throughout the state. The 2008 Wildfire Season began on Jan. 1, with 29 fires reported by TFS. The season, which ended Aug. 21, lasted 234 days and required federal, state and local resources to be mobilized statewide. One day into the season, the State Operations Center issued a critical situation report indicating TFS had already responded to 49 wildfires for 4,929 acres and volunteer fire departments across the state had responded to 212 wildfires for 2,268 acres over the last 7 days. During the seven days leading up to Jan. 1, no rainfall had been reported across Texas. Over the next few days, relative humidity levels were projected to be in the high teen to 20 percent range for most of the state. The 2008 Wildfire Season began with fuel moistures projected to remain dry to critically dry in portions of Central and South Central Texas. The 2008 Wildfire Season would begin with 129 counties under burn ban and four local disaster proclamations in effect as of Jan. 3, 2008 (Figure1). Figure 1 - Burn bans at start of 2008 wildfire season The extremely active wildfire season resulted in fires that exceeded available resources. Of the acres burned nationally, thirty-seven percent were in Texas. In Texas, 1,558,008 acres of land burned compared to the 4,065,931 that burned across the country. In the Southern Region, which includes 13 states from Texas to Virginia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, 1,815,132 acres were lost with land in Texas making up 81 percent of those acres. In the last two years, 85 percent of wildfires have occurred within two miles of a community. Texas is currently the eighth-fastest growing state in the United States with most of the movement resulting from people moving from rural to urban areas (US Census Bureau). This movement is leading to Wildland Urban Interface, or WUI. WUI occurs when urban development — subdivisions, malls and other businesses — meet natural areas such as surrounding forests and fields.TFS is trying to educate homeowners who live in these interface areas and prepare them for the risks of living there. On March 14, 2008, President George W. Bush approved an Emergency Declaration (EM-3284) for 184 counties in Texas due to wildfire threat. On March 24, 2008, thirty-two additional counties were approved for the same assistance, and 13 more were approved on March 27, 2008. The total number of counties approved for this declaration was 229. The 2008 wildfire season resulted in a loss of 451 structures reported by local fire departments and a loss of 274 structures as reported by TFS. State of Texas Central Branch Map The TFS Central Branch, which is made up of 39 counties, responded to 125 wildfires. Local response only Texas is divided into seven requiring no state assistance were called to 1,487 wildfires. branches with the Central Branch Resulting in a total of 1,613 wildfires for the Central Branch. representing 39 of the state’s 254 counties (Figure 2). From January to December, there were 151 wildfires reported in 27 of the 39 Central Branch counties (Table 1) resulting in 29,675 acres of land lost to wildfires. Based on WUI standards, wildfires were placed into four categories based on the number of homes threatened and the number of acres consumed. The four categories are Interface (2-14 homes threatened), Significant Interface (15-24 homes threatened), Major Interface (more than 25 homes threatened and Acres (more than 100 acres and less than 2 homes threatened). According to fire reports, 123 grass wildfires burned 18,382 acres, 86 brush wildfires burned 7,216 acres and 26 forest wildfires burned 2,447 acres. Homeowners, fire department officials and civic leaders need to be educated about the hazards Figure 2 – Central Branch map associated wildfires within the Central Branch. Grass and brush County Fires County Fires fires outnumber forest wildfires Austin 1 Kendall 4 seven to one. Understanding the Bastrop 28 Kerr 6 behavior of grassy fuels and heavy Blanco 13 Kimble 4 brush in regards to mitigation Burleson 1 Lee 9 practices and training practices Burnet 7 Llano 6 may help reduce the number of Caldwell 7 Mason 7 homes lost within this region. Colorado 1 McCulloch 2 Comal 1 Menard 2 Fayette 6 Milam 1 Gillespie 12 San Saba 1 Gonzales 2 Travis 3 Guadalupe 1 Williamson 11 Hays 9 Wilson 2 Karnes 1 Table 1 – Interface, Significant, Major or Acres wildfires by county in the Central Branch in 2008 Due to its size and geographic Major Eco-regions of Texas location, Texas is distinctive compared to surrounding states. Central Branch Texas has impressive topographic diversity, climate variations and habitat diversity. Central Branch, in particular, covers six of the 12 major eco-regions found in Texas (Figure 3). The diversity and vegetation variation in this eco-region significantly influences fire behavior. It is important to understand the vegetation types found across these eco-regions to see the direct correlation between fuel loading, wildfire intensity and potential risks throughout the Central Branch. As the environment continues to change from development and land use practices, increased fuel loading will produce wildfires that are harder to control. This increases the threat to firefighting resources as well as the property on which these wildfires burn. The Edwards Plateau historically was savannah grassland with scattered oak species (Quercus sp.), ashe juniper (Juniperus asheii) and honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa). With fire suppression and grazing, ashe juniper and mesquite have increased wildfire danger Figure 3 – Major eco-regions of the Central Branch throughout the region. Terrain of the Edwards Plateau can be very rugged, rocky, steep and inaccessible. Another ecosystem, the Central Great Plains, offers large varieties of grass species that contribute to cured fuel loads. Drought conditions in the region (high winds and low RH) escalate fast moving wildfires in open prairies.The Lost Pines, an outlier of the relict loblolly pine-post oak upland forest, are located within the East Central Texas Plains. Heavy fuel loads from accumulated needle cast and needle drape, along with increased loads of mesquite, yaupon and cedar, increase the chances of wildfire moving into the pines.This movement increases the possibility of single and group torching along with short crown runs. The Western Gulf Coastal Plain provides a distinct break from fine, flashy fuels to larger bunch grasses. Although higher weather thresholds of RH and wind speeds are required in this region, extreme wildfire behavior still can be seen when the criteria is met.The Texas Blackland Prairies and Cross Timbers regions provide unique combinations of prairie grasses and mosaics of oak and elm species that were once believed to be a thick impenetrable forest. Currently, the Blackland Prairies and Cross Timbers are being converted to cropland, non-native pasture and expanding urban areas that spread well into surrounding rural areas. All of this increases wildland urban interface issues in these eco-regions. There are two distinct wildfire seasons in the Central Brach – winter and summer. The winter wildfire season runs from mid-December through March (or when greening occurs). It can be characterized by dormant vegetation as well as periodic passage of cold fronts, which bring low humidity and high winds. Live fuel moistures in the conifers tend to be at their lowest in February and March adding to active wildfire behavior during this wildfire season. The summer, or green, wildfire season typically extends from the beginning of July and runs through September. It is characterized by the presence of drought conditions, high temperatures and drought-stressed vegetation. Wildfires that occur in summer typically are fuel driven in nature. The severity of the wildfire season generally depends on the amount of available fuel in a particular region or across the state. Tracking dryness in key fuel types allows officials to identify high risk or high wildfire potential areas.