PFLUGERVILLE, Texas — Central Texas fire departments are sending crews and equipment to other parts of the state as extreme wildfire conditions raise concerns both locally and across Texas.
Pflugerville Fire Department Battalion Chief Heath Doyle said the area is facing heightened risk. “We’ve got some significant fire danger. We’re in extreme danger here locally,” Doyle said.
Red flag warnings are in effect across much of Texas this weekend as many parts of the state face the threat of wildfires. Doyle warned that conditions could quickly turn dangerous in Central Texas, too. “One little spark kicks off in the right location at the right time, then we could have a local disaster here as well,” he said.
In the Texas Panhandle, multiple fires have burned tens of thousands of acres into this weekend. In the Texas Hill Country, a brush fire in Fredericksburg and another in Burnet County sparked this evening.
As fire activity increases, departments across the state are deploying additional resources to areas considered hot spots. North Hays County Fire Rescue Chief Scott Collard said his agency sent one firefighter and one truck to the Texas Panhandle.
“Our obvious primary mission is taking care of folks in Hays County, so we had one person and one truck we could send out on this particular deployment,” Collard said.
Pflugerville Fire Department also sent three firefighters and a brush truck to the Panhandle, along with another brush truck to South Texas.
With local wildfire conditions also a concern, Doyle said Pflugerville adjusts staffing to maintain coverage while sending resources elsewhere. “We start to staff up procedures to where we bring in extra personnel, or we rearrange personnel that we have so we can make sure brush trucks are on a more rapid response,” Doyle said.
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Doyle and Collard said they ensured Central Texas had enough people and resources before deploying additional help to other parts of the state.