Dear Neighbors,

May is Wildfire Awareness Month and here in Austin we know that the wildfire threat is real. We have seen repeated periods of record heat and wildfires burning to the north, south, east and west of Austin, and Austin ranks as the fifth most at-risk U.S. city for structural damage from a wildfire.  For Wildfire Awareness Month, I am sharing an overview of my work to bolster our city’s wildfire resilience and some steps you can take to enhance your family’s wildfire preparedness and help prevent wildfires in the first place. 

1. Safe and Effective Wildfire Response

I am proud that every Austin firefighter will have completed the critical “Responding to the Interface” wildfire training by this summer. This program trains firefighters to defend structures while responding to wildfires and is specific to fires in the wildland-urban interface environment. Austin will be the first large city in the nation to achieve this goal. All new AFD firefighters will be trained to this level, and AFD trainers can help train neighboring jurisdictions’ firefighters as well. 

In 2018, I set an ambitious goal to build and staff 5 new Fire/EMS stations in 6 years, including District 10’s joint stations at Davenport/360 (opened last spring) and Canyon Creek (due to open this coming winter). All 5 of these new stations are positioned to improve our wildfire response. 

Over the years I have worked to transform Austin’s approach to wildfire preparedness. Now multiple City departments, including Austin Energy, Austin Water, Austin Parks and Recreation, Austin Public Health, Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM), and others, recognize wildfire as a key threat and are actively improving the resilience of our community, greenspaces, and infrastructure. HSEM and AFD’s Wildfire Division have recently held several trainings and exercises for City staff and regional partners to prepare for a potential wildfire and improve our evacuation capabilities. 

In March, Council took several steps to launch the update of the Austin Travis County Community Wildfire Preparedness Plan (CWPP). These included my resolution that empowers all City departments to meaningfully engage in the CWPP update to ensure the plan is comprehensive, collaborative, inclusive, and actionable. The CWPP update will return to council for adoption in 2025.

2. Fire Resilient Landscapes

In my first term, I led Council’s adoption of Austin’s Wildland-Urban-Interface (WUI) code, which requires the safeguarding of new homes and renovations in high risk areas during construction. This short video from Headwaters Economics highlights Austin’s success in implementing this code, and provides a roadmap for other cities to adopt a similar code. Below I include some resources that you can consult if you want to harden your home against the wildfire threat. 

Last year I also secured funding and staffing to implement our new Land Management Plan for our Parks and Preserves, which was the final recommendation to implement from a 2019 audit of our wildfire readiness which I initiated. In previous years, I added funding to the AFD wildfire division budget to undertake fuel mitigation on city lands and those funds were deployed in concert with Austin Civilian Conservation Corps (ACCC) crews on PARD and other City-owned lands. 

Since my first term I have worked closely with Austin Energy to accelerate their vegetation management process and improve the reliability of the circuits in my district and beyond. Recently Austin Energy launched a new Wildfire Division, which will play a crucial role in fortifying our community against wildfires and which will bolster AE’s capacity to sustain uninterrupted electrical services. Efforts include infrastructure hardening by covering lines with materials that mitigate the risk of sparks from falling branches, and innovative vegetation management to prevent branches from reaching the lines.

Austin Energy has initiated the installation and operation of an advanced wildfire detection program powered by artificial intelligence, called Pano AI, which integrates state-of-the-art hardware, AI, and a network of high-definition, 360-degree cameras positioned atop elevated locations to provide real-time, comprehensive views. By equipping first responders with invaluable insights for prompt wildfire identification and intervention, Austin Energy is empowering its teams and emergency responders to swiftly address wildfire threats, safeguarding lives, properties, and the environment.