Wildfire prevention expert visits Texas

After two months of dry conditions, much-needed rain poured in the Gonzales area, ending a burn ban for the county, but one wildfire expert is telling Texas residents to stay vigilant.

Robert Beanblossom of National Wildfire Prevention and Education was sent to Central Texas from Virginia to study the drought that plagues the state.

There have been a reported 8,881 wildfires consuming 630,555 acres in Texas this year, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

Beanblossom has experience in natural resource management for nearly 50 years and 20 years of work on national wildlife assignments.

The National Wildfire Prevention and Education team has visited 33 counties in Texas to help educate local agencies and county officials on how to prevent wildfires.

“One of the things that we’ve been ask by the Texas A&M Forest Service to do is making first close contact and working with our various partners whether it’s fire, police or EMS,” Beanblossom said.

He added they work closely with these agencies, which include city officials and county officials.

The most common starts of wildfires are burning debris, equipment use (example: welding and safety chains on a truck), lightning, parking in tall dry grass and tossing a cigarette onto dry grass.

Ninety percent of Texas wildfires are cause by people and their activities, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service website.

In an example of a fire that happened in Llano in May, Beanblossom said one of the causes of the fires in that area was dragging chains from trucks.

Beanblossom has seen how destructive wildfires can be to an area. What comes to mind is the Plumas National Forest fire during his time in California.

He said it’s hard to describe the devastation of wildfire, and he has seen people who became homeless due to wildfires.

Despite getting much-needed rain in Gonzales County, Beanblossom emphasized to stay vigilant when it comes to wildfires.

“Don't let your guard down, don't be complacent it’ll take a long rain event to end this current drought situation.” Beanblossom stated.

For more information regarding wildfire prevention and the current status of wildfires in Texas please go to the https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/PreventWildfire and https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/CurrentSituation.