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- Info
Wildfire strikes home in Texas: The report of the governor's conference on rural/suburban fire protection
| Author: |
Rural Fire Advisory Council |
| Date: |
1988 |
| Periodical: |
Austin, TX: Rural Fire Advisory Council, Texas Forest Service, US Forest Service. In cooperation with Texas Forest Service and U.S. Forest Service |
| Abstract: |
The enormity of the fire problem in Texas is comparable only to the vastness of the state. The rural areas continue to be subjected to fire losses of great acreages; the metropolitan areas are impacted by severe monetary losses. Both are subjected to unacceptable loss of life. Now a newly recognized and growing area, known as the urban/ wildland interface is confronted with increasing losses of acreage, property and lives. While more than 80 percent of our people live on 3 percent of the land, i.e. metropolitan areas with full-time fire protection, the increasing number of fires per million people in our unprotected areas is of mounting concern. In these unprotected areas, we have almost 4,500 fires per million people resulting in more than 50 deaths per million. The fact that we have more than 2,800 communities of less than 10,000 people without full-time, experienced and fully equipped firefighters is itself alarming. More than half of those communities have no fire department at all. Unfortunately, we as a people spend most of our time ignoring the problem. The old axiom, "You don't miss the water until the well runs dry," is never more real than when we are personally confronted with a fire situation. Then we begin to ask questions: Why didn't I buy a fire extinguisher? Why doesn't the state require burning permits for outdoor burning? Why is liability insurance so high for volunteer fire departments? Why isn't fire protection a higher priority in the state? Why are we as a people so resistant to state regulations regarding the use of fire? Why are we so unwilling to pay for fire protection? During the fire conference, another very basic question was asked, viz. "Why can there not be insurance incentives for home fire safety courses just as there are for defensive driving?" A good question. Are our automobiles more valuable than our homes? Are lives lost in home fires less valuable than those lost in traffic accidents? The Governor's Conference on Rural/Suburban Fire Protection has given us the best opportunity ever to ask some very basic questions regarding rural fire protection in Texas. We need to ask those questions of our elected officials, fire services, educators, and (most important) homeowners, which includes most of us. One of the major concerns expressed was the invasion of property rights. But, with those rights comes the responsibility to protect our property and that of our neighbors' from fire. Another old adage, "Your freedom stops where my nose begins," was never more true than when it comes to fire. The fire problem in Texas is serious. It is time we got serious about it. |
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