First, the good news for Texas. Most of the state is not expected to be at an “above average” risk for wildfires this summer, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The reason for that might depress you: in parts of the state with less vegetation, like West Texas, years of drought and fire mean [...]
Two bills promoting responsible prescribed burning received a public hearing in the House Agriculture and Livestock Committee Wednesday morning. Both bills would indirectly influence the ease with which landowners could use this wildfire prevention technique on their land. SB 702 by state Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, would establish standards for prescribed burners, as well as training, education [...]
Your Grandpa’s Cheeseburger Might Be Making You Sneeze For many Texans, ‘Cedar Fever’ has its own place in the region’s pantheon of demons, alongside the likes of the Chupacabra, Yolanda Saldivar, and chili with beans. If you’re one of those Texans, the onset of winter, when male mountain cedar plants release their pollen and set [...]
During the Labor Day Wildfires of 2011, tens of thousands of acres burned in Central Texas, destroying over 1,600 homes and killing 1.5 million trees. Some of those trees were true Texas treasures: the Lost Pines of Bastrop State Park, a unique forest nearly a hundred miles apart from the Piney Woods of East Texas. Ninety [...]
Got any dead wood lying around your yard? If a new Texas company’s claims turn out to be accurate, that pile could theoretically fuel your car soon. In the New York Times, Matthew Wald reports on Pasadena, Texas-based biofuel company KiOR. They say they’ve come up with a process to affordably, cleanly process wood chips [...]
The tally of the Texas drought’s toll continues. But the good news is those dead trees could soon give life to new ones.
There is a notion that wildfires, as destructive as they are, are at least natural. That they are an unfortunate condition of living in proximity to the uncultivated world.
We’re hoping you can join us tonight at our new studios for a panel and discussion of wildfires in Texas. We’ll be listening to and talking about our recent documentary with KUT News, Forged in Flames: An Oral History of the Labor Day Wildfires. Our own reporter Mose Buchele will be on a panel with KUT [...]
If you live in Central Texas, particularly in exurbs abutting woodlands and greenbelts, you’ll want to keep a keen eye out this weekend for wildfires. The National Weather Service is forecasting “gust” winds beginning tomorrow morning and increasing in the afternoon, leading to possible “critical fire weather conditions” for a few hours Saturday afternoon. The [...]
It started as the perfect fall weekend: Breezy, sunny skies, cool temperatures. Then it spawned one of the worst disasters in Central Texas history. More than two thousand homes destroyed, landmarks burned, whole habitats changed forever. The Labor Day Wildfires of 2011 took some lives, uprooted others and changed Central Texas history: from the way [...]
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