Bastrop Wildfire Illustrates Value of Defensible Space

Bastrop Wildfire Illustrates the Value of Defensible Space

Submitted by Bill Hamm, SR Firewise Committee Chair

A wildfire in February 2022 covered about 812 acres and caused the evacuation of about 250 homes in Bastrop County. According to Kari Hines of the Texas A&M Forest Service, key residences near the fire had done excellent work at creating defensible space, which kept the fire low and minimized the ember storms usually seen in a wildfire of this size, although this fire was not as intense as the 2011 Bastrop Fire. The fire also surrounded homes in the Pine Hills Estates neighborhood on three sides, but no homes were lost. The picture (above) shows the defensible space created on the northeast corner of a Pine Hills home. Firefighters were able to provide direct structure protection as the flames were low to the ground due to the limbing-up and slight density reduction of the trees within 30 ft of the home. Defensible space is generally thought of as three zones, one within 5 feet of a residence, one from 5-30 feet and one 30-100 feet.

Zone 1 (within 5 feet)

• Remove leaf litter and use rock instead of mulch within zone 1 • Remove leaf litter from roof and rain gutters • Remove combustible material and vegetation from around and under decks. • Remove or prune vegetation under windows. • Keep garden hoses near building corners to aid firefighters.

Zone 2 (5-30 feet)

• Remove all dead or dying vegetation • Trim tree canopies regularly to keep their branches a minimum of 10 feet from structures and other trees. • Remove leaf litter from yard and from base of any wood fencing • Relocate woodpiles or other combustible materials into Zone 3 • Remove “ladder fuels” (low level vegetation that allows the fire to spread from the ground to any tree canopy). Create a separation between low level vegetation and tree branches. This can be done by reducing the height of low-level vegetation and trimming low tree branches.

Zone 3 (30-100 feet)

• Remove dead material and thin vegetation • Remove “ladder fuels” • Cut or mow annual grass down to a maximum height of 4 inches • Trim tree canopies regularly to reduce continuity between branches and dense underbrush. These recommendations are not all or nothing concepts. Any work to decrease risk is better than none. Protect Your Home by Requesting a free Defensible Space Evaluation at SRFirewise@gmail.com