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What’s Your Wildfire Risk? New Website Lets You Know

Texans can visualize potential fire conditions at texaswildfirerisk.com.
Image courtesy texaswildfirerisk.com
Texans can visualize potential fire conditions at texaswildfirerisk.com.

As wildfire season begins in Central Texas, the Texas Forest Service has launched a new website to let people know what the wildfire risk for their area is.

Texaswildfirerisk.com uses the same data the Forest Service used ahead of last year's devastating fires. The Forest Service's Tom Spencer says now anyone in Texas can see how susceptible their area is to wildfire.

“They can click on the 'what's your risk' tool, click on the map where their home is and it would actually go in and calculate the average risk within about a two mile radius of their home,” says Spencer. “And then give them an idea of what the wildfire risk is to them – whether it's low, moderate, high, very high."

The website also provides tips on what people can do to mitigate the wildfire risk around their home, such as clearing brush and tree limbs that are too close to the house.

Ben Philpott is the Managing Editor for KUT. Got a tip? Email him at bphilpott@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @BenPhilpottKUT.
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