Because of that, they say property owners are safer than in 2011. But officials say they still have more work to do to prepare for another wildfire.
In the days since a new wildfire broke out in Bastrop County that has burned more than 4,000 acres this week, officials have credited their efforts in helping limit further destruction.
They say not only are emergency crews more experienced in fighting wildfires, county officials also have undertaken a massive project to rid the region of dead branches and other combustible vegetative debris that fuels such fires.
In an interview Friday with the American-Statesman, Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Fisher said the skill of local firefighters dramatically improved after the 2011 fire. He said they have improved their ability at predict fire behavior and the role of weather conditions since the fire four years ago that burned 34,000 acres, for instance.
"We can almost tell the firefighters exactly what the fire is going to do so when they go out on assignment there are no surprises," he said.
According to a recent news release from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, Bastrop officials also have taken steps to prevent the spread of fire by relying upon a special trimming process to thin such areas of combustible vegetation using a machine that chews the debris and turns it into mulch.
"We get better trained and better prepared every year," Fisher said.
By some estimates, Travis County has more homes at risk from wildfire than any other county in Texas, with 83,000 in possible danger. Austin and Travis County officials say they also are ready for another potential round of wildfires, but added that such preparations are constantly evolving.
"We aren't where we need to be, but we are continuing to get better at what we are doing," Austin Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr said. "We always have to seek to improve."
After the 2011 fires, local government leaders put together a comprehensive community wildfire protection plan that pinpoints areas for wildfire danger and encourages officials to continue widespread public education campaigns about how to protect their properties, including the creation of 15 feet of "defensible space" between brush and their rooflines.
"We are safer now because of the community outreach," Kerr said.
Yet Bob Nicks, president of the Austin firefighters union, said Friday that he thinks local leaders should be doing more. For instance, he said, large swaths of wooded public land in Northwest Austin haven't had regular fire mitigation efforts, including controlled burns, which he said have been thwarted by environmentalists who have lobbied against such action.
For years, the union also has advocated for Austin firefighters to be responsible for conducting controlled burns on government-owned property. That responsibility currently belongs to the Austin Water Utility, which manages such land.
He said having firefighters handle that job would give theme valuable experience. "It's not that we are unprepared now, but to prepare for the big fire you need to continually train," he said.
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said she thinks a particular advantage now — one that wasn't in place in 2011 — is more public awareness and attention by property owners on the wildfire threat.
"Prior to 2011, people who were in the business of fire suppression and response were very much aware that they were overdue for a wildfire and that conditions were right for serious property damage," she said. "Since the 2011 fires, not only people in the profession are aware. People are much more aware of how vulnerable we are."
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