Why One House Survives a Wildfire (And the Rest Don't)

Ashe juniper, the "mountain cedar" covering the Hill Country, is native here. There just used to be a lot less of it. Grass fires swept through and killed the young trees, because a juniper dies once it loses its green. We stopped letting those fires burn, and now the hillsides are thick with a tree full of oils that goes up fast once it catches.

Firefighters call that a ladder fuel. It's how a grass fire, already moving faster than you can run, climbs into the canopy and turns into a crown fire.

In the final episode of our Sisterdale VFD series, a Sisterdale firefighter explains why one house makes it through a wildfire while the rest of the street burns. After Maui, people looked at the satellite photos and decided the surviving homes must belong to someone rich. Usually the answer is duller than that: nothing flammable planted under the soffit vents, and a cleared strip right around the walls. He also makes the case for sprinklers in new rural homes. Last he saw, they added about 2 or 3 percent to construction cost, and only the head nearest the fire goes off.

Kendall County's Community Wildfire Protection Plan has now completed 50 property risk assessments. If you're looking at a hillside that worries you and can't pay to clear it yourself, the Hill Country Fire Coalition exists to help you find the resources.

Three things to do this month:
1. Walk the first 5 feet around your house and pull anything that burns.
2. Clear ladder fuels from the 5–20 ft zone.
3. Call your volunteer fire department and ask what their real response time to your address is.

Resources:
Texas A&M Forest Service, defensible space and wildfire prep: https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/education-outreach/
Firewise USA guidance (NFPA): https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/wildfire/firewise-usa
Hill Country Fire Coalition: https://www.hcfcoftx.com/

This is Episode 3 of our 3-part series on Sisterdale VFD.
Episode 1, 50 Years of the Sisterdale Fire Department: https://youtu.be/44s6faM8uH0
Episode 2, Your Volunteer Fire Department Needs You Right Now: https://youtu.be/Z5p_gtDL8ck

0:00 Why Hill Country cedar burns so fast
1:00 Ladder fuels and crown fires
1:25 Building into the danger zone
2:16 Why one house survives when the rest burn
2:50 The Community Wildfire Protection Plan
4:10 Defensible space, explained
5:05 Residential sprinklers aren't like Hollywood
6:10 Brush piles and fighting fire with fire
7:12 Three things to do this month

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