The threat of wildfires across the South Plains will have increased Wednesday and will remain until Friday with predicted sustained wind speeds of 30 to 40 MPH and gusts of 65 to 75 MPH.
With West Texas winds returning as spring nears, dry conditions pose a serious threat with the amount of dry fuel in surrounding areas. Area fire departments have already responded to multiple grass or brush fire calls as a result of the dry conditions and low humidity levels.
Monitoring the conditions that are expected for the end of this week, the Levelland Fire Department encouraged community members to construct fire breaks between their residences and substantial fuel loads such as CRP and grass pastures.
LFD Interim Fire Chief Patty Faulkner-Bryars explained that there are things homeowners can do to help themselves and responding public safety personnel when it comes to fires and their homes.
The overall goal is to not have anything within 10 feet of the home that can burn. That includes tree limbs and fallen leaves as well. Storing wood next to a home is another common mistake individuals might do to have easy access to their supply. However, in the event of potential fire hazards, leaving wood along a wall of the home is not ideal.
Despite the resilience of some homes, Levelland-Hockley County Emergency Coordinator Cole Kirkland added that all structures can be susceptible to intense heat and burning.
“Your brick homes are pretty resilient but if you stack stuff underneath the eaves of the house, whatever is underneath the eaves catches fire,” explained Kirkland. Once whatever is stacked burns through, then it burns from the top down.”
As dry conditions continue, following wind speed and humidity levels are important as they are two of the biggest factors when it comes to increased rangeland fire potential.
“When I was looking at a recent shed fire, the humidity was 11% and we had wind speeds of 9 MPH and gust up to 17 MPH,” said Faulkner-Bryars. “Anybody walking across the grass and shuffling their feet could have created a static spark and it would have just gone. It is crazy.”
At a low enough humidity level, static electricity can ignite wildfires, particularly in dry conditions, when a spark from a static discharge ignites flammable materials like dry vegetation or dust.
Captain Brian Falkenbury added that the department often sees grass or brush fires after a strong dust storm due to the enormous amount of static build up.
Static discharge can happen when a built-up static charge is released, it can create a spark strong enough to ignite flammable materials. Static electricity can build up on machinery and equipment, someone dragging a chain, a tire blowout and even trains.
Fire departments across West Texas will be on alert and ready to respond to calls for aid. Aside from grass fires, fire departments will have to be flexible and handle other calls for service when needed.
As the bulk of the surrounding fire departments consist of volunteers and the LFD utilizing volunteers, Faulkner-Bryars explained that leaning on one another is important to make sure everyone is covered, and no station is spread thin.
Kirkland highlighted the willingness to help one another in public safety but pointed out that type of culture is even more so on the fire service side.
“They don’t really care where the areas of responsibility boundary lines are,” said Kirkland. “If you call us, we’re coming.”
An added bonus of strong relationships with surrounding fire stations is the willingness to work with one another in mutual aid training.
“You work a whole lot better when you’re training together,” said Faulkner-Bryars.
The training would allow all groups to know one another’s equipment and skills along with being familiar with more faces.
“When everybody’s skill set is trained for the most part the same way, your integration with another department is almost seamless,” explained Kirkland.
Also working alongside fire personnel during grass or brush fires are county personnel operating maintainers.
“That functions within our training on our side,” said Kirkland. “It’s one thing to blade a road and it’s a whole other thing to be running next to a fire that’s running at 20 or 30 MPH while you’re cutting the line. It can be scary.”
Speaking with county commissioners, Kirkland explained there has been some change over on the county personnel side which has prompted the need for a motor grader class.
In the training, the Texas Forest Service explained what a fire line looks like, what a fire break looks like, how deep a line should be and what the operator should look for.
“They also give you clues to look for if you get yourself in a bind,” said Kirkland. “If you get yourself in a bind, drive back through the fire and get into the black.”
While it may sound counterintuitive, if the maintainer is about to drive through a large amount of tall grass, they are to drive back through the fire line back into the black because it is already burned.
“Just making that connection ahead of time can save somebody’s life, much less a half million-dollar piece of equipment,” stated Kirkland.
Kirkland highlighted that county maintainers are the resource they call for and rely on the most.
There are times we have had the City of Levelland send their motor grader to help cut fire line to protect proper,” explained Kirkland. “It’s that culture of, everyone jumping in to help everyone in times of crisis.”
While direction can be simple when a maintainer arrives at the scene, there are times when they are asked to pick up their blade and find the nearest house to begin cutting lines.
“You go down to the very first house and you start cutting the line around the backside of the house,” explained Kirkland. “Run over their fence, run over whatever it is; but protect their structures.”
“We can fix fences, but it is important to get a line cut so that we can protect their homes. From there we can figure out the rest. At that point they realize you do everything you can to protect the people’s property and then some.” With that type of responsibility, holding a motor grading training may reduce the nervousness of the operator when the time comes to act.”
Kirkland added that the partnership with the county has been very positive.
“One thing about the county partnership is if you call a commissioner or foreman, they’re sending you everything they can come up with or get too,” explained Kirkland. “That partnership has been very positive for the last 13 years.”