The wildfires ravaging California right now are terrible and, for now, show no signs of letting up. Could Texas be in for a similar fate someday? Yep ...

Wildfires are nothing new to the Los Angeles area but the ones burning now are the worst ever. The damage is incalculable at the moment and, so far, at least 24 people are dead. High winds are now threatening to make things much worse.

El Paso's neighbors in Ruidoso and Cloudcroft recently had their own fire disaster with the damage further worsened by the mud slides and flooding that followed. Could such a thing happen in Texas?

That Time The Franklin Mountains Burned.

You may recall the wildfire that burned almost the entire eastern face of the Franklin Mountains back in the late 80's. For about a week, the mountain smoldered, looking sort of like a volcano.

Fortunately, we don't have a lot of forest area here so, only scrub brush burned and firefighters were able to just monitor it and watch over homes on the mountain slope as the fire burned itself out. Other fires have caused major damage in El Paso though.

The fact that we don't have a lot of timber and that we do have one of the best fire departments in the country keeps El Paso a fairly moderate wildfire risk. Other parts of Texas though, like Austin, could very easily find themselves facing a fate similar to LA and Ruidoso.

Austin Firefighters Association President Bob Nicks is sounding an alarm now that Austin needs to learn from LA. Funding, lack of equipment and under staffing are being cited as reasons the LA fires got so out of control so quickly and Nicks worries Austin could be next.

Why Is Austin Such A Wildfire Risk?

Austin’s topography provides a plentiful fuel source for a fire and that, along with very dry conditions, are a perfect combination for a huge wildfire. Nicks said Austin needs more firefighters and equipment, pointing out that Austin hasn't gotten a new ladder truck since 1995. Then, there's this:

“When we have the winds, we have the exact same conditions we are seeing in LA,” Nicks said. “And that’s why Austin is considered one of the five highest risk in the nation, the only one outside of California, by the way, nationally, to have the chance of catastrophic fires.” - kxan

The ONLY catastrophic fire risk outside of Caly. Wow.

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