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Universal City fire chief outlines Cibolo Creek wildfire response, highlights ISO score of 2 and new access improvements
Summary
Fire Chief Verna Behn described the department’s multi-unit initial response to fires in Cibolo Creek, mutual-aid arrangements, equipment and training gaps, an all-weather emergency access road, and the city’s ISO rating of 2; council requested follow-up staff report on the Seminole Creek firebreak.
Universal City Fire Chief Verna Behn told council on April 1 that the department maintains a seven-person shift and a specific initial response for incidents in the Cibolo Creek corridor, and she described automatic aid, strike teams and infrastructure work intended to improve wildfire response.
Behn said the city’s initial response for creek incidents typically includes one brush truck, one engine, a ladder truck and a battalion command vehicle, with automatic mutual aid from neighboring departments for larger incidents: "If this thing bumps up to a second alarm… dispatch automatically knows who we're calling, what we need from them, and when they're coming," Behn said.
Nut graf: The chief briefed council on steps taken to reduce wildfire risk and improve response times — trail clearing, an all-weather emergency access road entering at FM 1518 that will connect through to Kitty Hawk Inn, UTVs equipped with compressed-air water systems, and joint training with neighboring departments. She also highlighted a recent ISO Public Protection Classification rating of 2 for the department, a result staff said should support lower residential fire-insurance rates.
Behn described limitations and improvements: the department’s current brush truck is two-wheel drive and limits off-road reach, so staff are building better ingress/egress and emergency pass-through roads and expanding training, including wildland refresher and UTV driving courses that will include Selma, Live Oak and local police departments. She said the creek’s larger trees can slow grass-driven fires, which gives firefighters time to manage incidents.
Council members asked operational questions about hose lengths and placement and about the potential effect of traffic-control improvements on ISO scoring; staff said hose lays of roughly 150–200 feet are used and that response time and water flows factor into ISO scoring.
In addition to the presentation, council directed staff to follow up with a staff report on the Seminole Creek firebreak and invited continued coordination with neighboring jurisdictions.
Ending: The chief said the creek is in a better condition today than 10 years ago because of trail clearing and other work; council asked for additional staff reports and noted the department’s continuing training needs.
