City of Dallas completes Community Wildfire Protection Plan

Feb. 27, 2017—DALLAS, Texas— The city of Dallas has developed a plan to reduce risks and better prepare for wildfires.

Dallas, a major metropolitan area in Texas, is the 53^rd city in the state to complete a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). The plan was developed in cooperation with Dallas Fire-Rescue Department, city of Dallas and Texas A&M Forest Service.

The motivation for the CWPP is to reduce the threat of wildland fire while promoting ecosystem health. This is accomplished by managing area wildlands for hazardous fuel reduction and fire resilience. The plan establishes goals and strategies for long-term success by identifying priorities for action and proposing immediate measures that can be taken to protect Dallas communities, especially those within the wildland urban interface, from wildland fire.

The wildland urban interface occurs where humans and their structures meet and intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fields. These areas also create a challenging environment for wildfire suppression and evacuations. Mitigation and prevention efforts, however, can be taken to prevent damage or loss from wildfire, which is outlined in the CWPP document.

“Having a CWPP not only brings awareness to a danger that many people didn’t even know impacted the city, but it educates and empowers them to take proactive measures against it,” said Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief, David Coatney. “While the accomplishment speaks volumes about the commitment of the people who collaborated to achieve it, it speaks more about their overall dedication to serving the citizens of Dallas.”

The city of Dallas applied for, and was awarded upon completion of the CWPP, a State-Wide Community Wildfire Protection Plan Grant for $10,000. The grant, administered by Texas A&M Forest Service, is federally funded to provide for writing and producing a community-wide protection plan and mitigation projects for fuels reduction.

“Wildfires can happen anywhere and at any time,” said Texas A&M Forest Service Wildland Urban Interface Specialist Erin O’Connor. “This is a whole-community approach to wildfire mitigation. By implementing this plan, residents and communities in the city of Dallas will address their wildfire risk and improve prevention efforts.”

A CWPP recognition ceremony was held during a regularly scheduled Public Safety Committee meeting at Dallas City Hall Feb. 27.

To learn more about Community Wildfire Protection Plans, Firewise and reducing your risk of wildfire visit http://tfsweb.tamu.edu/ProtectYourCommunity/

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Contacts:

Erin O’Connor, Wildland Urban Interface Specialist, (936) 241-2572, eoconnor@tfs.tamu.edu