Latest news with #SmokehouseCreekFire
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas House passes bills related to the Smokehouse Creek wildfire, await Senate OK
Just after the one-year anniversary of the largest wildfire in Texas history — the Smokehouse Creek Fire - state lawmakers are working to take steps to ensure such a fire never happens again. Lawmakers like State Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, have put forward bills that have passed out of the Texas House and are up for consideration by the Texas Senate to help shore up Texans' readiness for the next crisis and ensure a fire like Smokehouse won't happen again. Dig Deeper: One-year anniversary of Smokehouse Creek Fire highlights Texas wildfire threat King, who also chaired the Texas House Investigative Committee on the Panhandle Wildfires, along with now Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, released a report in mid-2024 about how the fire started. The committee also released several recommended actions for this legislative session to look at, which King has made good on with two legislative items that were approved with bipartisan support in the House on April 1. "Wildfires affect not only the Panhandle, but the entire state of Texas," Burrows said. "It is good to see Republicans and Democrats come together and support such critical, important bills for our first responders and emergency management." The first bill, HB 143, aims to ensure that electrical power lines serving well sites and surface facilities involved in oil and gas operations are constructed, operated, and maintained according to the National Electrical Code or relevant Texas codes. This bill stems from the committee's finding that there has been an increase in wildfires in the state since 2006 due to "a regulatory no-man's land that permits irresponsible oil and gas operators to neglect fuel loads and dangerous electrical safety problems on and around well site locations, where exposed wiring and other dilapidated electrical equipment make for ready ignition sources." Dig Depper: Unregulated oilfield power lines are suspected of sparking Texas wildfires Burrows said that an area deemed as no-man's land is when an electrical line off-shoots from other power lines to help power the wells and that there was some confusion on who regulates them. "The Public Utilities Commission thought it was the Railroad Commission's responsibility to regulate and inspect and make sure that those offshoot lines were actually up to par and the Railroad Commission thought it was the Public Utilities Commission," Burrows said. However, after the House concluded its investigation, PUC and the commission drafted a memorandum of understanding on how to best proceed in regulating that area. Burrows said HB 143 seeks to codify the MOU into law. Others are reading: Xcel Energy confirms company's infrastructure likely started Smokehouse Creek fire There was also another realization that the committee discovered last year, which spurred the creation of HB 13. "Through hours of testimony, it became abundantly clear that the underlying problem was lack of communication," King said on the House floor on April 1. It is through HB 13 that King said the state would create the Texas Interoperability Council to help facilitate the communication between first responders in emergency events by developing the necessary infrastructure to do so, along with the council creating a statewide strategic plan to do so. The bill would also task the new council with overseeing a grant that would help fund local governments' purchase of necessary emergency equipment and infrastructure to achieve this goal. According to King, the rider for the bill to fund the grant equates to $500 million every two years. Others are reading: Fairly's bill aims to make statewide database for fire depts. to better fight wildfires The council would be formed by six appointees, two each from the governor, the House speaker, and the Lt. Governor. It would not be subject to Texas open meeting laws because King said the council would handle sensitive critical infrastructure for the state. Although this bill stems from the House's investigation, Burrows said HB 13 would address issues found during another House investigation into a deadlier event three years ago. "We found some of the same issues in our investigatory committee from the Robb Elementary School shooting," Burrows said. "We have learned from that that when we have emergency situations, different departments and law enforcement agencies use different equipment, and so an emergency comes up, they cannot talk to one another." The bills now head to the Senate, where they will be debated. If passed, they will then head to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk to be signed and become effective Sept. 1, 2025. Mateo Rosiles is the Government & Public Policy reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Got a news tip for him? Email him at mrosiles@ This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas lawmakers seek to prevent more wildfires, support emergency services
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legislation creating statewide emergency communication system advances in Texas House
LUBBOCK — The Texas House gave initial approval Tuesday to a set of bills aimed at mitigating wildfire risks and improving the state's response to emergencies. The bills, filed by Ken King, R-Canadian, cover separate issues. However, both were filed in response to the devastating wildfires last year that engulfed the Texas Panhandle. More than 1 million acres burned, 15,000 head of cattle and three people died. House Bill 13 would create the Texas Interoperability Council, which would be tasked with creating and coordinating the implementation of a statewide plan for the use of emergency communication. The council would set up a network that connects all first responders and state agencies. They would also administer a grant program to help local governments purchase the equipment and construct the infrastructure needed to connect to that system. The Interoperability Council is one of the recommendations from the report by the House Investigative Committee, which King led last April. The initial cost is expected to be about $500 million. 'My goal is to ensure every first responder that puts their life on the line to battle these fires and other disasters have the tools to communicate effectively with those around them,' King said. King's second bill, House Bill 143, addresses one of the common causes for wildfires in the Texas Panhandle: unmaintained electrical lines for oilfield equipment. The House committee that investigated the wildfires last year concluded that unmaintained lines started at least two of the fires. This includes the Smokehouse Creek Fire, which became the largest fire in Texas history and ignited after a decayed power pole snapped and landed in dry grass, according to the report. [A year after Texas' largest wildfire, Panhandle residents tugged between hope and anxiety] King's bill would require the Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees the oil and gas industry, and the Public Utility Commission to notify electric utilities when the RRC identifies electrical hazards during inspection. The Panhandle lawmaker said the agencies developed a Memorandum of Understanding — a non-binding agreement — that allows them to work together. State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo, spoke in favor of the bill. Both lawmakers live in the Panhandle, where state data shows power lines have caused roughly 60% of wildfires since 2006. 'I'm thankful to the Texas House that we realize how important it is that we pass legislation that affects and protects rural areas from wildfires,' Fairly said. The House will take up the bills one more time before passing them to the Senate for consideration. The Legislature is also considering House Bill 2063 to create a database of firefighting equipment that is readily-available, and Senate Bill 34. That is a sweeping priority bill by state Sen. Kevin Sparks, R-Midland, that also includes increased funding for rural volunteer fire departments. Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill seeks to bolster firefighting efforts amid a worsening climate
AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Texas Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs heard testimony Monday on a bill that would bolster firefighting efforts and better prepare the state for future blazes. State Sen. Kevin Sparks, R-Midland, filed Senate Bill 34 to address issues discovered in an investigation conducted in the months following the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the most destructive fire in the state's history. In part, investigators found that rural volunteer fire departments were underfunded. 'Despite the heroic efforts of volunteer firefighters, response times were hindered by a lack of timely air support and poor communication between agencies' responders, largely due to incompatible equipment,' Sparks said. Sparks' bill increases the funding cap for the Texas Rural Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) Assistance Program. Run by the Texas A&M Forest Service, the program provides rural volunteer fire departments with funds to purchase firefighting vehicles, fire and rescue equipment, protective clothing, dry hydrants, computer systems and firefighter training. Sparks said the bill increases the funding cap for that program from $30 million to $40 million. 'This will ensure volunteer fire departments, which cover more than 85% of the state's land, receive the necessary resources to prepare for and respond to increasingly severe fire seasons,' Sparks said. The bill would also require more inspections of power lines, which ignited the Smokehouse Creek Fire. 'Wildfires started by power lines have been among the most destructive in the region between 2002 and 2024,' he said. Austin Firefighter Association President Bob Nicks said he is heartened by the prospect of more funds being pumped into rural volunteer fire departments. 'These folks are your real heroes in the state of Texas when it comes to firefighting,' said Nicks, who was a battalion chief for 37 years. 'Funding is a constant issue.' 'Their job is harder than ever with the advent of increased wildfires,' he continued. 'Any funds that go to volunteer departments in Texas will definitely provide them the support that will help them do their job better.' Nicks said, every year, conditions worsen, increasing the risk of larger and more intense fires. He said it has never been more important to have competent and committed firefighters. 'They need to be well-trained and have the right equipment,' he said. 'These community heroes really need the support, and I'm glad that legislators are looking after them.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Japan Times
10-03-2025
- Climate
- Japan Times
Cascading extreme weather events unleash billions in damages globally
First came a dry spell that parched the land, then a spark, followed by some wind. Suddenly, swaths of South Carolina were consumed by voracious flames. More than 100 fires ignited in the state last weekend — an unusually high total even in the heart of fire season. It was the perfect combination of arid air, dry fuels and gusting winds that combined to spread the flames, said Doug Wood, a spokesman for the state's Forestry Commission. The South Carolina disaster is the latest high-profile example of compound weather, or two or more concurrent events that collectively yield a result worse than if each had occurred on its own. It's a global phenomenon — and its prevalence in a warming world portends the risks ahead. Malaysia recently struggled with devastating floods that killed at least five people, sent thousands fleeing their homes, crimped palm oil production and caused mudslides throughout the region. In January, a cascading series of weather disasters led to historic Los Angeles wildfires that killed 29. Texas — the U.S. epicenter of extreme weather — has been hit by a string of compound events in recent years. The great freeze in 2021 that killed at least 200 people has been tied back to a series of compound events, as has last year's record Smokehouse Creek Fire that had its roots in a massive 2023 drought that hit the Great Plains. As the planet heats up and weather whiplash spreads, compound weather events are poised to wreak even greater havoc: A study published last year in Nature projected climate damages could cost the global economy $38 trillion (in $2005) per year by midcentury. Deborah Brosnan, a climate risk scientist who heads up Deborah Brosnan & Associates, said the Los Angeles fires sharply illustrate the danger of multiple weather events leading to a larger disaster. The Palisades, Eaton and other blazes hit after the state saw two winters in a row of plentiful rains that allowed abundant vegetation growth. Last year was one of California's warmest on record, which dried out that vegetation and ushered in a flash drought across the state's southern half. The drought spread from roughly 17% of the state in late December to nearly 32% in early January when the fires started. "LA experienced normal fires, but compounded by prolonged drought and high temperatures — both of which are associated with climate change — the outcome was worse,' Brosnan said. Research found climate change made Los Angeles 35% more primed to burn. Coming up with direct costs for cascading events can be difficult because damage is often tallied by individual storms or fires. California's fires unleashed damage that's projected to reach $164 billion. In comparison, the financial toll of the drought that preceded them has yet to show up in any U.S. government assessments. The compound event didn't end once the fires were put out, either: The region has seen heavy rains falling on burn-scarred land, resulting in mudslides. "It's a good example of how all these things can play together to exacerbate the hazards that we're all facing,' said Lou Gritzo, chief science officer at industrial insurer FM. "And that was just the alignment of those kind of weather events. You can argue that had any one of those not been in place, the consequences would have been significantly reduced.' Emergency service personnel help evacuate residents from the flooded town of Lewin Brzeski, Poland, in September 2024. | Bloomberg A similar situation occurred in Australia, where drought from 2017 to 2019 was followed by the 2019-2020 Black Summer Fires that tallied insurance claims of up to $1.5 billion. Compound events have outsized impacts and they are relatively rare, making it difficult to research them, said Doug Richardson, a weather and climate research scientist at the University of New South Wales. "We need to develop our models to better account for these sorts of interactions between different climate hazards at a spatial resolution that allows us to consider how these hazards might interact,' and to build a larger sample to assess the frequency of potential compound events, he added. Not all cascading weather ends in flames, though. Flooding can occur when rain saturates soil and loosens vegetation, setting the stage for subsequent showers to have a greater impact. This was part of the mechanics around the Malaysian floods, which also got an assist from extreme tides. The states of Sabah and Sarawak saw more than 70 centimeters (27 inches) of rain in January, which left soils saturated. Yet another storm hit just as tides reached their highest levels due to the alignment of the sun, Earth and moon, said Nursalleh bin Kasim, principal assistant director of the research and technical development region at the Malaysian Meteorological Department. One extreme event can also beget another. Drought, for example, saps the soil of moisture. With no excess water to evaporate, the sun's energy is instead redirected to heating the air. The resulting hotter weather then makes the drought worse. "There can be a feedback back to the atmosphere,' said Ronnie Abolafia-Rosenzweig, a project scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research. Larger climate impacts, such as sea-level rise, add to the perils as does building in exposed areas, Brosnan said. Notably, deforestation leads to greater risk of landslides while destroying mangroves and coral reefs worsens coastal flooding. Events can also be "spatially compounding,' striking multiple regions at once, said Jakob Zscheischler, a compound event researcher at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Germany. He pointed to the fall 2024 floods that struck multiple parts of Europe as a prime example. The flooding, fueled by record rainfall from Storm Boris, killed at least 29 people and caused widespread destruction across countries from Italy to Poland to Romania. Munich Re estimated the compound event caused around $4.3 billion in damage, roughly half of which was insured. "Climate change has already led to an increase in the amount of rain during such events and will continue to do so,' Zscheischler said, "which puts pressure on infrastructure and transnational flood management due to multiple countries being affected at the same time.' Brosnan warned that siloed emergency management means "we deal poorly with complex events where impacts spread widely through a system.' There are precedents for non-weather disasters, though, that could prove useful if the world is to adapt to more compound events. Bruce Chong, director of climate and sustainability at engineering firm Arup, said Japan's culture of earthquake preparedness is one model to turn to. "They know there are earthquakes,' he said. "At the everyday level, they are already aware and prepared across multiple aspects, including how tasks are shared between local communities and the government. It's become something that everyone faces together.'
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas lawmakers want to give state more oversight, resources for wildfire management
LUBBOCK — A year after devastating wildfires engulfed the Panhandle, killing three people and burning millions of acres, Texas lawmakers have filed a slate of legislation aimed at mitigating the risks and damage of future blazes. Three Republicans — state Sen. Kevin Sparks of Midland, state Rep. Ken King of Canadian, and state Rep. Caroline Fairly of Amarillo — are carrying the package of bills. Their proposed legislation would give two state agencies more oversight of unregulated power lines, increase funding for rural volunteer fire departments and create a database of firefighting equipment available during a wildfire. The House Investigative Committee tasked with probing the wildfires concluded that unmaintained electrical lines for oilfield equipment started at least two of the blazes. The Smokehouse Creek Fire, which grew to be the largest fire in Texas history, was ignited after a decayed power pole snapped and landed in dry grass, the committee found. Data from Texas A&M Forest Service shows power lines have caused roughly 60% of fires throughout the Panhandle since 2006. King's House Bill 2453 would require the Railroad Commission, which oversees the oil and gas industry, and the Public Utility Commission to notify electric utilities when substandard power lines are found at well sites or at facilities used for oil and gas development or production. The two state agencies would also be required to request an inspection from the state fire marshal or a local government. That bill seeks to address what King and other lawmakers have called a regulatory 'no man's land.' The PUC, which regulates the state's utilities market, previously said it does not have the authority to inspect oilfield power lines. The Railroad Commission also said inspecting electrical lines is not in their respective jurisdictions. King, who led the House Committee investigating the fires, previously told the Tribune that he wanted the Railroad Commission to write a rule defining its role instead of pushing a new law to address it. Both agencies have worked with lawmakers since, King said, to refine their role. 'The agencies feel like they need some direction from the Legislature to do their part and stop these ignition sources,' King said. After the East Amarillo Complex Fire in 2006, Texas lawmakers passed a law that required oilfield operators to build and maintain their power lines according to the National Electrical Code. However, the law did not specify a penalty or an agency to enforce it, so there were no consequences for violating it. Adrian Shelley, Texas director of the public interest nonprofit Public Citizen, said HB 2453 is a step in the right direction but still falls short. He said the bill only requires the Railroad Commission to notify the PUC of substandard power lines or facilities that oil and gas regulators inspect. It does not address how the commission handles low-producing or abandoned well sites. According to the report, well operators lose their incentive to maintain the site when production capacity is low. However, there is still electrical equipment, such as breaker boxes, wires or poles, that can potentially start fires if they're damaged or deteriorating. The House committee that investigated last year's fires heard from witnesses that those abandoned and low-producing well sites, called stripper wells, are a common culprit contributing to wildfires. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, there are at least 6,489 abandoned well sites in Texas as of last year. In the wildfire investigative report, the committee said regulatory oversight of producers who own low-producing well sites is 'grossly deficient.' Shelley said the Legislature needs to give the commission the money it needs to address these sites and to track the rate of new abandoned wells. 'That problem is not addressed,' Shelley said. 'It can only do as much as it's funded to do, so the Legislature needs to get serious about giving the money to address this.' House Bill 3091, filed by state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, would create a fund for injection and abandoned wells cleanup. While King is not carrying that bill, he said orphan wells are a problem in Texas and have been for a long time. Craig Cowden, a rancher in Canadian, said it's critical for HB 2453 to get passed. Cowden has a lot of oil wells on his land and started inspecting each one after the fires. He reports any violations to the Railroad Commission. So far, he has inspected 75 wells. 'If we can get the sources of the ignition stopped or decreased, then we would be saving Texas taxpayer dollars tremendously,' Cowden said, referring to the cost for state agencies to respond to wildfires. According to the investigative report, it cost Texas A&M Forest Service more than $16 million to respond and the Texas Department of Transportation at least $540,000. There are other bills that could help strengthen the response to wildfires. Volunteer fire departments in the Panhandle were at the forefront of battling the fires last year. However, some of the departments were using expired gear, old respirators and radios that were not working. Rural volunteer fire departments typically have tight budgets and rely on hand-me-down equipment if they can't afford their own. Senate Bill 868 calls for the cap to be removed from the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance program to clear the backlog of funding requests. According to a statement from Sen. Sparks, the backlog has ballooned to almost $200 million, leaving fire departments waiting for assistance. The bill would also allocate at least 10% of the funds to be used on volunteer fire departments in areas of the state that are at high risk for large wildfires. 'Constant wildfire threats that require preparation, coordination, and resources is the most pressing issue for the Panhandle,' Sparks said in a statement. Another issue that came up during the fires was an uncoordinated response between responding agencies and a lack of knowing what equipment the agencies have. There were also problems getting firefighting air support on the scene in a timely manner, due to high winds and none being available. Texas A&M Forest Service tracks their equipment by office location. Senate Bill 767, along with Fairly's companion House Bill 2063, directs A&M Forest Service, with legislative support, to create a database of statewide firefighting equipment that is available during a wildfire. The bill states it must include equipment descriptions, contact information for fire departments and allow searches by location and equipment types. The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs and engages with Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas wildfires: Lawmakers want more oversight, resources
