Wild Basin fire safety grant OK’d
West Lake Hills got a federal grant that will allow the city to selectively thin and remove some flammable understory vegetation along the border of the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve to reduce the chance that a potential fire could spread from the basin into the city or vice-versa.
Officials submitted the application in 2012, City Administrator Robert Wood said.
“We thought the grant would happen a lot sooner,” Wood said.
As a result, officials will have to reach out to adjacent property owners again to make sure any new owners are on board.
About 50 feet of the clearing will occur in the Wild Basin, and some of the work will occur on private property.
Wood said the size of the zone on the adjacent properties is still being discussed.
Officials got a buy-in from all of the property owners in 2012, which the application required, West Lake Hills Mayor Dave Claunch said.
The grant requires the city to chip in $21,394 (25 percent of estimated cost) for the project, so the project cannot get off the ground until the City Council puts it in the budget.
Over the next several council meetings, the council is expected to craft a budget for the upcoming fiscal year and pass it Sept. 23.
Westlake Fire Department Chief Mike Elliot said the effort will likely be beneficial.
Ground vegetation tends to catch fire quicker and more easily than trees, he said.
“Anything that’s done down there (the Wild Basin) to reduce some of the vegetation is probably a benefit,” Elliot said. “I can’t say it’s going to completely reduce the potential for a wildfire in the Wild Basin, but anything they do around there is a plus. We’ve always been concerned about the Wild Basin. ... We’re always vigilant about planning how we’d stop a wild fire should it start in that area.”
West Lake Hills resident Tom Keller, who previously ran a blog called Westlake Wildfire that warned of the dangers of wildfire in the area, said he supports the project as well.
“Convince the newcomers how extremely important this is,” Keller urged the council at an Aug. 12 City Council meeting, referring to any new property owners who have moved in since the 2012 application was submitted.
Contact Katie Urbaszewski at 512-445-3707.