As firefighters from several states, Mexico and Canada arrive to help battle the wildfires currently raging in California, Christie Wiley sees an opportunity to educate Kendall County residents about the risks and hazards of wildfires, and what they can do to protect their property and lives.
Wiley, a Boerne resident since 2015, is director of the Hill Country Fire Coalition, formed in June and July 2024 to raise awareness among Kendall County residents to the potential for wildfires, by promoting safety and fostering fire-resilient communities.
“People have a thought process, ‘It’s never going to happen to us,’” Wiley said Monday as she watched the televised devastation in the Los Angeles area. “Here, the drought has never gone away. The conditions remain ripe.”
Wiley was the communications director for the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Wildland Fire and the U.S. Forest Service’s Director of Fire and Aviation Management when she retired after a 30-year career.
Once in Boerne, she found out neither Boerne or Kendall County had a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, despite so much of the county being rural ranchland, existing as extremely dry “tinder” due to the ongoing drought that has ravaged the county since early in 2022.
“We all expect the firefighters to respond when called,” Wiley said. “But we have a more important role; to prepare our properties before fires happen.”
“The safer (an area is) when they respond, the easier the fight when they get there,” she added.
The Hill Country Fire Coalition’s slogan is “Prepare, Prevent, Preserve.”
“ Through property owner education, effective mitigation and community involvement, we protect lives and property by implementing strategies that create fire-adapted communities and landscapes to reduce wildfire risk,” Wiley wrote as a mission target for the HCFC.
The fire coalition grew out of the establishment of the Community Wildfire Protection Plan, begun in 2019 by Wiley and then- Boerne Fire Chief Doug Meckel, who approached the city and the Kendall County Commissioners Court to obtain proclamations to begin the process of creating a countywide CWPP.
After much delay, including the Covid pandemic interference, the county submitted the Kendall County CWPP to the Texas A&M Forest Service for approval and held a signing ceremony in August 2023, becoming just the 24th countywide plan in Texas.
In September 2023, the CWPP Core Team provided Commissioners Court a list of recommended priorities to consider as they began to implement the plan.
Like California, Kendall County faces a growing wildfire threat. As one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, 94% of development is in the wildfire- prone wildland-urban interface (WUI).
“ I am impassioned about the wildlife firefighters ... they go to a fire line and work that line 16 hours a day ... they put the well-being and safety of everybody else, above their own,” she said.
Extreme drought conditions, hazardous vegetation, steep canyons, and narrow, single-access roads compound the risks of a catastrophic fire. This underscores the critical need for residents to take proactive steps to prepare their homes and reduce wildfire risks.
The HCFC approaches wildfire mitigation on several fronts:
Landowner fire preparedness. While firefighters are essential during emergencies, landowners bear the responsibility to prepare their properties before fires occur. Proactive efforts can save lives and property.
Supporting the CWPP.
The HCFC was created to implement the CWPP, recognized by the insurance industry as a proactive strategy to reduce wildfire risks. The plan provides essential guidance to help residents and the county officials protect against wildfires.
Private lands, public responsibility. With 94% of Kendall County privately owned, the county government cannot directly carry out all necessary wildfire mitigation efforts. The HCFC bridges this gap, collaborating with private property owners to raise awareness and guide them in risk reduction strategies.
Partnerships for risk reduction. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, HCFC partners with other organizations, like Team Rubicon, to perform risk-reduction projects across the county. These collaborations demonstrate the power of community and nonprofit efforts in creating a safer, fire-adapted landscape.
Get involved. Wiley urges property owners to join HCFC’s efforts to safeguard Kendall County through education, workshops and partnerships aimed at reducing wildfire risks and creating resilient communities.
“It is incumbent upon all of us to do our part to reduce the risk on our own properties in order to give our firefighters the best chance to safely and effectively contain the fires when they occur,” said Wiley, who is organizing HCFC workshops for property owners and the public at large.
“ By understanding the risks, and working together, we can help people protect properties,” she said, adding, “The key is to survive the fire. We can be a part of something that saves a life.”
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