Kerr County property owners urged to attend free wildfire info sessions on Feb. 19

Twin sessions presented by the Texas A&M Forest Service on wildfire mitigation were so popular with Kerr County residents in January, that Kerr County Emergency Management has added two more sessions to the calendar on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

“For anyone who might have missed attending one of these sessions when we hosted them in January, this is your opportunity to learn how to protect your property and how to get a little financial assistance doing it,” said Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator William B. “Dub” Thomas.

The sessions are free of charge and are identical in content, so citizens are encouraged to choose to sit in on either the 10-11:30 a.m. gathering or the 1:30-3 p.m. assembly – both of which will be held in the old Union Church building, located at 101 Travis Street in Kerrville. No advance registration is required.

“The devastating wildfires in California recently reminded us all that such a disaster could easily happen here,” Thomas said. “These sessions are a great way for our local residents to learn about how to assess and minimize wildfire risks on their land, as well as grant opportunities to help pay for their mitigation efforts.”

“It is just smart for us to prepare ourselves for the event of wildfires by assessing our risks and doing what we can to minimize the effects of any wildfires in advance. I should also emphasize that these sessions are open to ALL landowners in Kerr County – including those who live inside the city limits of Kerrville and Ingram,” Thomas said.

Kerr County, Texas, is hosting the event in which Texas A&M Forest Service presenters will focus on residents who live in the wildland urban interface (where humans and their structures intermix with vegetation.) The goal is to encourage homeowners to take action to protect their properties from fires. Presenters also will offer information on a pass-through cost-share grant opportunity for landowners to help them pay for mechanical efforts to reduce wildfire fuels. For more information, see https://tfsweb.tamu.edu//mechgrant/.

“Whether you think of risk assessment in terms of potential or probability, this interactive presentation will provide our Kerr County landowners with the information necessary to make logical, well-informed decisions concerning wildfire hazard risk assessment and mitigation,” Thomas added.