Everyone has been stunned by the loss of over 15,000 structures in the Los Angeles Area wildfires and the tragic loss of life. The Palisades and Eaton fires burned almost 40,000 acres. The Pacific Palisades, Altadena and Pasadena neighborhoods were devastated by rapidly spreading uncontrolled fires. While these fires began in wildfire-urban interface (the “WUI”), they spread to devastate older built communities far from the edges. As you probably know, fire fighters were hampered in fighting the fires by low water pressure and fire hydrants that had gone dry. According to Martin Adams, the former manager of LA’s Department of Water and Power, the city’s urban water system does not have the water capacity to fight a wildfire that enveloped the large urban communities. In the hilly areas the fire hydrants ran dry.
“Local water systems are usually designed to fight local, small-scale fires over a limited time period,” said Kathryn Sorensen, director of research at Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy. “They are not generally designed to fight large, long-lasting wildfires.” – LA Times 1.9.2025
“The urban interface is changing and we’ve designed for classic fires, not a wildfire blowing through a community,” Adams said. “We need to think about fire protection and what firefighters really need if this is going to be the way of the future.” – LA Times 1.9.2025
What does this have to do with Austin? A 2024 Wildfire risk report by CoreLogic ranked Austin as #5 in the nation of homes with Moderate or Greater Wildfire Risk. The report said that 94,673 homes were at risk. According to the city of Austin more than 60% of current structures within the city are within 1.5 miles of the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI). The Palisades fire traveled 10 miles from its origin, and the Eaton fire traveled 2 miles from its origin.
View the current Austin Wildland Urban Interface Code area maps:
For additional information on wildfire risk in the area “because it’s not a matter of “if” the next wildfire occurs, but “when”.”
Austin was the first major city in Texas to adopt a WUI code which was adopted on January 1 of 2021. However ,even with the passage of the code, the infrastructure to support the code is not there.
“We don’t have enough captains in the wildfire division to even train those firefighters well, because that’s our delivery model,” Chief Nicks said. “The captains provide most of the training. So, from a tactical standpoint, way behind. From administrative and training standpoint, way behind. It’s just time we do something about this.” KXAN, 9.01.24
Confronting wildfire risk is critical for Austin, but two items on the January 30th council agenda (Items 4 and 25) could damage the environment without significantly reducing the threats of wildfires according to local existing studies (Baylor University study) and local experts . The city should pause and discuss the best methods for our location and our climate and not pursue a rushed plan that dries out the soil, increase erosion and encourages fast-growing grasses. Let your council members and the mayor know you want a wildfire strategy that protects Austin’s environment.