Texas Forest Service

UPDATE: As of 9:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 1, the city of Marble Falls has lifted its ban on outdoor burning.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Following the return of precipitation and cooler temperatures over the course of several days, Burnet County Judge James Oakley rescinded the county's ban on outdoor burning Wednesday, Oct. 30 . . . .

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor •

Llano and Burnet County officials breathed a collective sigh of relief the afternoon of Aug. 26 after a weekend brush fire which threatened nearly 150 Horseshoe Bay residences was declared fully contained.

“It was a tremendous effort starting with the initial response from both Horseshoe Bay and Marble Falls fire departments and we could not have contained this fire without the help of all of our mutual aid partners who assisted,” said Horseshoe Bay fire chief Joe Morris.

“This fire burned right up to airport hangars full of multimillion dollar jets and burned right up to homes in several areas. It is amazing how much was done within a short amount of time and we were fortunate that no homes and no lives were lost.”

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

It was a red letter day for Hoover Valley Volunteer Fire And Emergency Services on Wednesday, Dec. 20. They took possession of a new, state-of-the art brush truck to be known as the Iva Avery.

A check representing an almost $100,000 grant to purchase the vehicle was delivered, along with the truck by Nicole Lang, central branch fire coordinator for the Texas A&M Forest Service.

Brush Truck 5350 will be christened the Iva Avery for an important reason. That is the name of a single supporter who made sure the purchase would happen as soon as the grant came through. The volunteer fire department had been in line for the grant since 2014. To be sure they would be able to meet their match of a small percentage of the purchase price, Avery made her donation in advance.

By Phil Reynolds

The Highlander

With no discussion, Llano County commissioners voted Monday to extend a county-wide burn ban for another three weeks. The vote was unanimous, 4-0, with Precinct 3 Commissioner Mike Sandoval absent.

The Texas Forest Service lists Llano County with a Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) ranging from 328 to 526 as of Monday, July 24. According to the KBDI definition, a range of 400 to 600 means that “Lower litter and duff layers contribute to fire intensity and will burn actively. Wildfire intensity begins to increase significantly. Larger fuels could burn or smolder for several days.”

County Emergency Management Coordinator Assistant Ron Anderson said he didn’t take his usual poll of county fire chiefs to get their opinions because “half the departments were out fighting fires” over the weekend.