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Travis County replaces old burn‑ban list with Warren Central Texas alerts; opt‑in required for non‑life‑safety notices
Summary
The county fire marshal briefed court members on replacing an older Microsoft‑based burn‑ban notification list with Warren Central Texas alerts that deliver bilingual burn‑ban and red‑flag warnings; life‑safety alerts will continue to use broader regional cell‑phone alerting.
Travis County fire marshal and emergency management officials told Commissioners Court on Tuesday they will retire the county’s prior Microsoft‑based burn‑ban notification list and begin using the Warren Central Texas alert platform for burn ban and red‑flag notifications, beginning June 1.
Fire Marshal Gary (last name not specified in the public presentation) told the court the prior system was slow and labor‑intensive and sometimes took a day or two to reach all registrants. The new system will push bilingual (English/Spanish) burn‑ban and red‑flag warnings and will be managed in partnership with county public information staff.
Hector Nieto, Director of the County’s Public Information Office, told the court staff issued a press release and began a public outreach campaign. The system will be opt‑in for non‑life‑safety alerts: residents who want burn‑ban and red‑flag notices must sign up at warrencentraltexas.gov or text the county’s short code (transcript referenced “TC burn band to 888777”) to enroll in the service. County staff said they will notify everyone on the old list that the system is changing and will do targeted outreach to reach 50,000 previous registrants.
County emergency management clarified that life‑safety alerts (the highest severity messages) still go automatically to a regional wireless database that can reach a very large share of mobile devices; the new Warren Central Texas functionality layers specialized burn‑ban and red‑flag messaging available to people who opt in. Commissioners asked about whether the opt‑in approach would miss residents who need the notices; Emergency Management explained the county will continue to use life‑safety alerts and will run outreach campaigns to increase Warren Central Texas signups.
The court did not take any action (the item was a briefing); staff said they will roll out the enrollment campaign through PIO channels and social media and will continue to operate the old list while signups transfer.
Practical how‑to: officials said signups are available at warrencentraltexas.gov and that the county will publicize the short‑code option for phone enrollment; staff emphasized the service includes weather alerts and will be available in both English and Spanish.
