Dear Editor:
Last week’s paper contained an editorial from Mr. Brian Treadwell, owner of a prescribed burn service in Cristoval, Texas. Mr. Treadwell’s letter contained many inaccuracies about volunteer fire departments, the most preposterous of which I will address here:
“There is no incentive to stop the fire while it is small.” VFDs in San Saba County have responded to dozens of fires in the County this summer alone. One – the Mays Fire – grew beyond the VFDs’ ability to stop “while it is small.” Volunteers have jobs and families they’d rather spend time with instead of fighting a fire for days at a time. That is incentive enough to stop a fire when it is small.
“We are running $350,000 VFD trucks to wildfire scenes.” I invite Mr. Treadwell or anyone else to visit the County VFDs and point out a $350,000 brush truck. They are expensive, but our newest brush truck cost about $70,000, with half that cost paid by the VFD (read: donors) and the remainder from LCRA and TFS grants we applied for. Skilled VFD members cut, welded and attached grill guards, the bed, and other structural elements on their own time to complete the unit and keep the cost down.
“The VFD declined the small project (a brush pile burn request), citing they just don’t need the money anymore.” Said no VFD ever. At least not in our county. Equipment, maintenance, repair and operations are expensive, and we choose to reserve those resources for unplanned fires. I believe donors expect this, instead of tying up resources on courtesy burns for individuals.
“Call a VFD… to help babysit a prescribed fire, and they are more likely to storm the county judge’s office…” Mr. Treadwell is paid by land owners to conduct prescribed burns; volunteer firefighters aren’t. Most of us don’t have the free time to babysit for him using donor-funded equipment to improve pastures for land owners. Prescribed burns are very beneficial, and reduce the fuel load in the pasture that’s burned. But optimal wind, temperature and humidity conditions are necessary, and changes to those conditions dictate the presence of a water source backup. Mr. Treadwell is welcome to invest in brush trucks and crews as part of his business rather than relying on VFDs, who must remain ready to deploy to uncontrolled wildfires before they grow too large. If we were as greedy as Mr. Treadwell implies, we’d let wildfires burn (leaving that to the TFS) while we raked in the cash working for land owners on prescribed burns.
“…they (Texas Forest Service) physically stop my team from assisting.” A large wildfire, in rough terrain with constantly changing weather conditions, is chaotic enough. A coordinated response is necessary, and unorganized groups of mavericks doing as they see fit is dangerous. A battle isn’t won with small squads of soldiers fighting unilaterally; it is a coordinated effort among divisions with a central command structure. The Texas Forest Service assumes incident command when they are called to a fire. They are called by the VFDs only when the fire has grown too large for the VFDs to control, and we pride ourselves on stopping fires before the TFS needs to be called. The TFS can defend itself from Mr. Treadwell’s allegations, though.
In reading his letter, it sounds as though Mr. Treadwell’s team had singlehandedly stopped the Mays Fire on the first night, which was 2,000 acres at the time, using leaf blowers and drip torches. I’m not making light of Mr. Treadwell’s valuable contribution: the VFDs at the scene also backburned miles of the same fire, and we employ this method (among others) at many fires. But when the wind increases and shifts, the humidity drops, and the fire jumps the fire line, I’d rather see air drops controlling the raging monster than some leaf blowers.
In short, there is no truth to the assertion that we’d rather “park a million dollars in new fire equipment on the edge of black and call TFS” for a “bulldozer and air show.” We have very personal incentives to stop fires when they’re small, and would rather not spend time away from work and family in treacherous conditions just to watch an air show. If Mr. Treadwell wants a piece of the state pie for his prescribed burning service, that’s commendable, but he can do so without impugning the work of volunteer fire departments.
Larry Hanrahan Public Information Officer San Saba Volunteer Fire Department