Increased fire potential was forecasted Monday in the Panhandle region and extending south to the Western/Eastern Hill Country and West Texas, where little to no precipitation has occurred in over 30 days and grasses are freeze cured.
The day’s weather conditions had warmer than normal temperatures, wind speeds near 20mph and relative humidity values below 15% due to a frontal system entering Texas.
Areas with dry grass may support wildfire activity due to accidental ignitions from activities that cause a spark. Individuals should avoid any outdoor activities that could ignite a wildfire such as outdoor burning, parking or driving over dry grass, welding or cutting metal near vegetation, dragging tow chains, and striking a rock or metal when mowing.
Approximately 90% of wildfires are caused by humans and their activities, and holidays and celebrations can pose an increased risk of fire starts.
Texans within the mentioned regions were asked to be wildfire aware, have emergency kits ready, review your household evacuation plans and alert authorities immediately if you see a wildfire.
Levelland-Hockley County Emergency Management is urging residents and business owners to register for weather related and emergency notifications to stay informed and alerted in case of emergencies.
Residents are encouraged to go to RUAWARE.US to register for Hockley County Alerts. Business Owners in Hockley County can go to https:// r.iinfo.com/hockleycobizcontact for business alerts.
Also, individuals are encouraged to check their wireless device has the “emergency alerts by location” turned on. That will allow notifications to come through similar to the amber alerts but are initiated locally for emergency situations such as tornado warning or dynamic police incidents.
Individuals should not assume that getting amber alerts to their phone their settings are correct for the notification; people will have to allow location alerts.
What location alert means is it will send the message based off geographical boundaries; the alert can be isolated to a specific area for only those within the preset boundary to receive the notification. This is a voluntary activation as amber alert system is not voluntary.
All alerts through this system come from local officials; never spam, solicitation calls, text messages or emails. All of the text messages will come from the same number so it can be saved in contacts to be easily recognized.
The phone calls will come through with the office of emergency management number 806-568-5487 so it can be saved and easily recognizable as well.