North Central Austin Edition | May 2025

BY BRITTANY ANDERSON & HALEY MCLEOD

Measuring the impact

Call to action

Major U.S. cities at risk of wildre damage Number of homes at risk

Local emergency service departments have collaborated to launch a multiagency program to increase “home hardening.” Announced May 14, the FLAME initiative aims to educate homeowners and builders on proactive ways to reduce wildre risk. Routinely ensuring the house has 5 feet of defensible space will increase the likelihood of a home surviving a wildre and gives reghters a safe area to work. A defensible space is a buer between a home and surrounding vegetation or debris, such as trees, brush or even missing roof shingles. Property owners may also request a free Structural Ignition Zone Evaluation from the Austin Fire Department. A trained wildre adviser will walk around the residence, oering tips on how to make it more resistant to wildre and providing evacuation advice.

Rising wildre risk in the area has driven up construction costs—from materials and labor to insurance—said Paul Oliver, owner of Oliver Custom Homes. The current WUI code states any properties that back up to a greenbelt must use nonam- mable building materials, but some insurance companies that provide builders risk insurance policies won’t insure homes in areas with high wildre risk, he said. Some homeowners outside city limits are willing to spend the extra money on these materials to try and keep insurance premiums down or receive discounts, he said. “Homeowners are looking for that because they don’t have the re departments that we have here in the city, and they don’t have the re mitigation [or] even the water supplies,” Oliver said.

Cost of reconstruction

Los Angeles, CA 245,670 Riverside, CA 210,859 San Diego, CA 138,600

$186.6B

$112.8B

$87.9B

Austin, TX 94,673

$40.6B

San Antonio, TX 78,207

$29.1B

Denver, CO 68,928 $32.4B

SOURCE: TEXAS COMPTROLLER, US FIRE ADMINISTRATIONCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Tips for making homes more re-resistant

Clear debris away from home and decks.

What’s being done

Clean gutters regularly, covered or guarded gutters preferred.

agencies have partnered to oer wildre training courses. Held in alternating years between West and East Austin, the program gives reghters and land managers hands-on experience to respond to wildres. The Austin Fire Department became the largest force in the U.S. last summer to move all of its members through an advanced wildre response program.

While more populated areas are less suscepti- ble to wildres, brush res are still common due to greenbelts and parks, Jollyville Fire Depart- ment Chief Brad Landi said. “You have urban and wildland [areas] next to each other or surrounding each other, and then you have the problems that grow because you’re trying to do both wildland reghting as well as structural reghting,” Landi said. Over the last decade, several Central Texas

Install mesh screening over vents.

Establish noncombustible siding or fencing connected directly to home.

Plant vegetation and landscaping 5 feet away from home, ame-resistant vegetation preferred.

SOURCE: TRAVIS COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICT NO. 2 COMMUNITY IMPACT

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NORTH CENTRAL AUSTIN EDITION