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Forest Country Fire Fighting Crews Receive Help
In a move to ensure a quick and full response in the event of a wildfire, the Texas Forest Service recently had 13 firefighters from Louisiana arrive to help with wildfire suppression.
“There are five two-person dozer crews, one dispatcher and two fire line supervisors,” said Misty Wilburn, Communications Specialist with the Texas Forest Service.
“The crews were brought in to augment TFS resources in Southeast Texas because of the ongoing drought,” said Wilburn.
Our area has received a fraction of the normal rainfall in the last two months and fuels are critically dry. Additionally, there is an increased hazard from Hurricane Ike debris.
Tom Spencer, predictive services department head, with TFS said that Central, South Central and South East Texas are the driest they have been in at least 10 years and that live fuel moisture is very low in those affected areas.
Energy Release Components (ERC) in many portions of the state are above the 90th percentile and three regions are setting new records. The ERC values represent composite fuel moisture – it reflects the contribution that all live and dead fuels have to potential fire intensity. As live fuels cure and dead fuels dry, the ERC values get larger. This value is a good indicator of drought conditions.
Areas setting maximum ERC records are the Central Texas, Upper Gulf Coast and Western Pineywoods Region.
Areas in the 90th percentile in ERC values are the Rio Grande Plains, Coastal Plains, Lower Gulf Coast and Southeast Texas region.
For more information, go to: http://txforestservice.tamu.edu/main/popup.aspx?id=1991
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