Friday, March 29, 2024

Local departments excel during recent mega fire

Posted

When fires at Fort Hood in late March burned out of control and even resulted in the evacuation of the community of Flat, local fire departments responded in a big way in helping to contain the threat.

Nine volunteer fire departments in Coryell County, as well as the Copperas Cove Fire Department, were all involved in responding to a massive blaze on the U.S. Army base that scorched more than 38,000 acres and was named the Crittenberg Complex Fire. The volunteer fire departments involved were from Coryell City, Evant, Flat, Gatesville, Jonesboro, Levita, Oglesby and Turnersville.

Coryell County Judge Roger Miller said he appreciates all the effort and sacrifice made by local firefighters in responding to the massive fire, and he is thankful for those who served on the frontlines of the blaze to help avert tragedy.

"I want to highlight what a great value our volunteer fire departments are to our county," Miller said. "It's not just in the fire protection services they provide. We have seen a significant increase in the number of medical calls the firefighters respond to, and several volunteer firefighters have worked to become EMT (emergency medical technician) certified.

"Sometimes it takes an event like this to truly appreciate and highlight all that is involved and the great efforts our fire departments make in helping to keep our communities safe."

When the Crittenberg Complex fire raged, "every fire department in Coryell County was involved," Miller said.

He plans to work with state officials and representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse local fire departments for the expenses incurred in responding to the blaze on Fort Hood.

"The total cost to our local departments in responding to that fire was $70,030.74, using a FEMA cost analysis," Miller said.

"There was a toll on tires and equipment as well as the personnel involved in fighting the fire. That normally happens, it's part of the cost associated with fighting fires. But in this case, the response was to a wildfire on federal lands. You can make an argument that our county resources were used to supplement the federal government. We're going to do everything we can to help our local fire departments recoup those costs."

Coryell County provides some funds to the eight volunteer fire departments spread throughout the county, but donations are also a big part of helping those agencies continue to operate.

"As an example, a couple of weeks ago the Coryell-Osage department raised over $2,100 through a fundraiser, and that was a good amount," Miller said. "Their total cost to support Fort Hood during those fires was over $9,200. So that's a $7,000 deficit for them even with the fundraiser.

"It's important to highlight what a great value these departments are, and as a county government, it's important for us to do everything we can to seek reimbursement."

With the county's drought level rated exceptional and with dry conditions expected to persist for months – even with sporadic rainfall – Miller said it is vital to make sure local fire departments have all the resources they need to respond to whatever emergency conditions arise.

"It's critical," he said. "Every weather report I'm getting indicates there are continued conditions that are prime for wildfires. We were blessed with good rains in 2019 and 2020, but lately it seems like the faucet has been turned off. That makes things difficult, but we'll weather the storm and we'll get through this."

The dry conditions are something people should be aware of at all times because it only takes a spark to cause a much larger fire, Miller noted.

"Moisture is so low that it causes fires to spread more rapidly and burn hotter," he said. "These fires can grow much more quickly than anyone anticipates. It's almost becoming a situation where we can experience flash fires. All it takes is a little wind for a situation to get out of control.

"Unless something drastically changes, people should anticipate that Coryell County will be under a burn ban for at least the next three months."

In addition to local fire departments being involved in the Crittenberg Complex response, agencies from Fort Hood, the Texas A&M Forest Service, Killeen, Belton, Hutto, Harker Heights, Georgetown and Round Rock all helped battle the blaze.

Miller said he has also heard reports that agencies from Milam, Bosque, and Hamilton counties also responded to what the Texas Forest Service had designated as the top priority fire in Texas on March 28.

"There was an extremely coordinated effort to keep a bad situation from getting worse," Miller said.

"From my standpoint, I don't know the exact source of the fire, but I'm 100% confident it was not started due to a controlled burn."

Officials from Fort Hood have said the fire began during training exercises, possibly by mortar fire.

"I believe they had an unanticipated wind shift that made what (Fort Hood personnel) believed was a controlled situation turn into an uncontrolled one," Miller said. "It put them into a situation they had not expected, so they called for assistance."

Fort Hood officials said controlled burns over the past three years have actually decreased the threat of wildfires spreading by eliminating the brush that would otherwise fuel those fires.

"I was overwhelmingly pleased by the response of our local assets," Miller said.

One area in which he said county leaders will need to focus is making sure resources are available at evacuation sites whenever disasters force people to leave their homes.

"The city of Gatesville and local churches and agencies were very generous in opening their doors, but we as a county have to help make sure that food, water and other resources like cots and blankets are available to those who have evacuated," Miller said.

"As far as our local emergency responders, I was very proud of their efforts. They did a truly outstanding job."

The estimated cost for local volunteer fire departments responding to the Crittenberg Complex fire includes:

n $9,247.86 by Coryell City VFD

n $5,125.50 by Evant VFD

n $11,027.42 by Flat VFD

n $16,155.50 by Gatesville VFD

n $3,280.60 by Jonesboro VFD

n $4,872.39 by Levita VFD

n $4,416.55 by Oglesby VFD

n $14,507.04 by Turnersville VFD