Central Texas isn鈥檛 taking any chances when it comes to wildfires.
Today, AG真人百家乐 County unveiled a new designed to fight wildfires, and tomorrow the city and the county are teaming up for a series of public meetings for their 鈥淐ommunity Wildfire Protection Plan.鈥�
Melinda Mallia, an environmental project manager for , says the plan will let communities craft fire plans for their own needs, but also expand outreach and education efforts for communities unaware of wildfire risks.
鈥淭here鈥檚 quite a few communities that started doing this sort of thinking and planning after the Labor Day wildfires,鈥� Mallia says. 鈥淪o we expect some of them will be very organized and some of them will be just starting to think about what this could mean for their community if a wildfire came through.鈥�
Mallia added that she hopes that the plan will inspire smaller neighborhood associations to make their own wildfire plans.
The first of five public meetings about this 鈥淐ommunity Wildfire Protection Plan鈥� is tomorrow evening at 6:30 at the AG真人百家乐 County Fire Department Headquarters on Blue Bluff Road.
And should the worst comes to pass, AG真人百家乐 County firefighters have a new weapon in their arsenal: a military 鈥淗uey鈥� helicopter.
The chopper saw combat in Vietnam, but Lisa Block of AG真人百家乐 County Emergency Management says the refurbished helicopter has an advantage over newer, smaller aircraft.
鈥淭he new helicopter has got a larger tank and it鈥檚 also safer to drop water in an urban environment,鈥� Block says. 鈥淪o this helicopter is safer and carries a lot more water than our previous ones.鈥�
The helicopters that AG真人百家乐 County currently uses to fight wildfires only hold about 130 gallons of water. By contrast, the belly of the Huey holds as much as 325 gallons.
