Fire safety award goes to San Augustine community

Editor's Note: Recent wildfire losses in California and in the past fire season here in Texas have shown that whole communities can be vulnerable to wildfires. With much of Texas having heavy vegetative growth (fuel) that has or will soon go dormant, community wildfire preparedness measures could hold the key to preventing home losses here in Texas.

E. TEXAS COMMUNITY EARNS L RECOGNITION

Powelltown Community in southern San Augustine County recently qualified as one of only 17 communities in Texas to earn national recognition as a Firewise Community USA. Fewer than 300 communities in the nation have achieved this designation.

Firewise communities are recognized for their efforts to reduce the risks to their residents and property from possible wildfires. Around 70 representatives from the county, community, area fire departments, and state and national land management agencies attended the presentation held last Saturday at the SFASU Pineywoods Conservation Center.

Community leaders enlisted the help of a Texas Forest Service urban wildland interface specialist to help Powelltown qualify for Firewise Community status. The first step in the process required the community to complete a community assessment and create a plan that identifies agreed-upon achievable solutions to be implemented by the community.

The second step included mobilizing a local task force to maintain the Firewise program and track progress, and members of the Powelltown Firewise Community Task Force immediately set out to determine their goals and priority projects, according to UWI Specialist Karen Stafford.

"The Powelltown group is by far the most excited and dedicated group I have ever had the pleasure of working with," said Stafford. "Where most Firewise groups may meet once a month, the Powelltown task force holds weekly meetings on a regular basis. They wasted no time in identifying the major hazards within their community and have constantly been finding innovative ways to address these issues.""

Other required steps to qualify as a Firewise community included observing a Firewise Communities/USA Day each year that is dedicated to a local Firewise project; investing a minimum of two dollars per capita annually in local Firewise projects; and submit annual reports that document continuing compliance with the program.

Texas Forest Service Director Jim Hull presented Powelltown Firewise Community Task Force members with their official plaque and Firewise Community signs for posting along roadways to announce the community's status to area visitors. Hull congratulated the community on its efforts and commended it for its accomplishments.

"Government just can't do everything for everybody," said Hull. "It is great to see neighbors helping neighbors. Implementing Firewise principles can give your homes a much greater chance of surviving a wildfire."

Community task force leader Tom Townsend also pointed out the cooperative effort of citizens within the Powelltown Community.

"The focus for most individuals in the community used to be on what 'I' can do," Townsend said. "Thanks to the Firewise program and the efforts of the task force, the focus is now on what 'we' can do and accomplish in and for the community."

Powelltown Volunteer Fire Chief Danny Wilson also addressed the assembled group at the presentation. He stated that there is no way we (the fire department) can protect every home in the woods in the event of a major wildfire. He commended the Firewise effort because it encourages folks to undertake activities around their homes so that their homes stand a better chance of being saved.

The initial interest in the community for improved wildfire safety originated with the Firewise practices implemented at the SFASU Pineywoods Conservation Center by David Treadaway, director at the center. Urged by UWI Coordinator Karen Stafford, he moved dead vegetation and debris away from buildings, cleaned gutters and roofs and established a Firewise landscaping demonstration area for visitors. Following these initial efforts, the center director had applied for and was awarded a Community Hurricane Fuel Reduction Grant from the TFS which allowed the center to hire a contractor to complete additional fire safety work.

Throughout the fire safety project, Treadaway had kept the Powelltown VFD updated on the landscaping improvements. Concerned about the rest of the community, Fire Chief Danny Wilson teamed up and organized a community meeting for Powelltown residents. At the meeting TFS UWI Coordinator Lee McNeely explained why and how to become a Firewise Community, and USFS Fire Management Officer Greg Cohrs explained what his agency does to protect communities that border national forest land.

Immediately after this meeting, concerned residents banded together to form the task force that has overseen Firewise program efforts in the community.

Cohrs noted that an additional benefit of the community's Firewise efforts is that communities which are organized are best equipped to cope with fires and other emergencies.