Because of its efforts to reduce the vulnerability of homes and landscapes to wildfire, West Lake Hills has earned Firewise Communities/USA recognition from the National Firewise Communities Program.

  

Thomas G. Boggus, Interim State Forester and Director of the Texas Forest Service will present the award to the City of West Lake Hills during the West Lake Hills City Council meeting on February 25th at 7:00 p.m. 

The City of West Lake Hills worked with the Westlake Fire Department and the Texas Forest Service to conduct a wildfire hazard     assessment and develop a plan to address safety concerns. 

Residents then worked together to implement the plan.  

Jan Fulkerson, urban wildland interface specialist with the Texas Forest Service doing Wildfire Preparedness Programs, said “West Lake Hills is taking a proactive approach to reducing the risk from wildfire. The Firewise Communities/USA program will assist in their process. The community has also completed a Wildfire Protection Plan in the Firewise process. This will continue to assist them in the risk reduction as will as preplanning for a wildfire incident. 

The community should be very proud of their accomplishment and citizens can get on board and help in the program to be a continuing success.” 

Mike Elliott, Westlake Fire Department assistant chief, added, “The fact that West Lake Hills city officials and residents have taken the steps to improve their community and have been awarded the Firewise Community designation sends a signal that the community is serious about reducing the effects a large wildfire would have on the city.

“Only by increasing the awareness, participating in cleanup activities and making plans for the future will the community ever diminish the hazards that are present in West Lake Hills.” 

The City of West Lake Hills is the first incorporated city in Texas to be recognized as Firewise Communities/USA, joining many other communities nationwide that have been recognized since the program’s inception in 2002.  

To receive Firewise Communities/USA recognition, City of West Lake Hills met a rigorous set of requirements. 

The community completed the following activities: created a Fire Safety Task Force to identify and discuss the issues to be addressed, charged the task force with making recommendations to the City Council regarding how fire safety funds should be spent, conducted three community wide brush pick-ups and educated the public about the threat  of wildfires and worked with local fire and/or forestry agencies to remove flammable vegetation from around their homes and other neighborhood structures.  

“Our community is blessed with a rural landscape and many beautiful vistas,” said Mayor Dave Claunch. “But this same topography carries with it a high risk of catastrophic wildfire. I’m proud of the work our city and its residents have done to reduce that risk.”