Texas Forest Service to offer wildfires info during Jan. 23 sessions

The Texas A&M Forest Service will offer local Kerr County landowners a choice of two, free sessions on Thursday, January 23, in which they can learn about how to assess and minimize wildfire risks on their land, as well as grant opportunities to help pay for mitigation efforts.

“The destructive wildfires in California that are destroying properties and lives should serve as a healthy reminder to us all that such a scenario could happen here,” said Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas.  “We need to prepare ourselves for the event of wildfires by assessing risks and doing what we can to minimize them in advance.”

All landowners in Kerr County — including those who live inside the city limits of Kerrville and Ingram — can attend either the 10-11:30 a.m. session or the afternoon session from 1-1:30 p.m. in the classroom at the Hill Country Youth Event Center, 3785 TX27 in Kerrville.  The topic of the twin presentations will be focused on residents who live in the wildland urban interface — or, where humans and their structures intermix with vegetation.  The goal is to encourage homeowners to take action to protect their properties from the threat of wildfire.

The Texas A&M Forest Service will also offer information on a pass-through cost-share grant opportunity for landowners to complete mechanical wildfire fuels reduction: https://tfsweb.tamu.edu//mechgrant/.

“Whether you think of risk assessment in terms of potential or probability, this interactive presentation will provide our Kerr County landowners with the information necessary to make logical, well-informed decisions concerning wildfire hazard risk assessment and mitigation,” Thomas added.

Kerr County, Texas is sponsoring the event.  No advance registration is required.