AUSTIN (KXAN) — Jester Estates is a scenic neighborhood of about 900 homes in northwest Austin, surrounded by walking trails and just 10 miles from downtown.
It is also one of the areas of central Texas that is most vulnerable to wildfires, according to firefighters.
But it is not the only high risk area in Austin.
The 2019 Wildfire Risk Report ranks the city as the fifth-highest risk in the US for a major wildfire incident, and compares it to Australia, which has been ravaged by devastating brush fires.
Firefighters from California, who have direct experience of
dealing with deadly brush fires, met with concerned residents of Jester Estates
on Wednesday and had their own comparison – their home state.
And it turns out that cedar doesn’t just make you sick, it could also help to spark a wildfire.
“I would relate the cedar tree here to our brush model that
we have all up and down and throughout California,” said Dave Russell, deputy
chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“The frequency of fire is not there, but when it does happen, the cedar spruce is a very volatile fuel and it’s difficult to control.”
Major brush fires have wreaked havoc on the West Coast in recent years. At their most aggressive, the flames can move at such speed that they can burn a football field in a minute.
Concerned residents of Jester Estates pointed out a dry, dusty area of brushland contained within metal fencing.
They also said that one road, Jester Boulevard, is the only
way to get in and out of the community. With no other emergency exits, it isn’t
easy to evacuate 900 homes’ worth of people if everyone is trying to get out.
This has potentially catastrophic consequences, firefighters said — with Russell and fellow Californian Todd Derum revealing they have found bodies in cars as people desperately tried to flee the flames.
“It’s a little bit different to California in the fact that
the canopies are so tight you don’t really have a ground fuel,” Russell said.
“The bad part is that with the canopies so tight, if you did
have those winds, you’re going to have that catastrophic fire, that fast-moving
fire that will be difficult to control.
“The entire community needs to be aware of the fire potential in this area,” he said. “Understanding that there is a wildfire risk, not just for the people that live in this area but also the people that live in the city, because it could potentially impact them.”
Carol Philipson, who lives in the community, said that the
stories told by the visiting firefighters “make it real.”
“When you think it’s never going to happen here, they [Californians] thought the same thing. The topography is the same, our houses are on the ridge like in California, we have the heat factor and we have limited access,” she said.
The group visited Jester Estates as part of a two-day tour
of wildfire-prone areas, led by the Austin Fire Association.
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