Austin and Travis County urge residents to prepare as wildfire risk rises

Mayor Kirk Watson and Travis County Judge Andy Brown on Friday urged Austin-area residents to take wildfire risk seriously and to participate in new planning and outreach efforts after local officials declared a disaster on Oct. 20 because of heightened wildfire danger.

The officials said the city and county are advancing two planning initiatives — an all-hazards protective action plan and an updated community wildfire protection plan — and invited public comment at a virtual engagement meeting set for Nov. 19. "Austin ranks fifth in the nation for the number of homes at risk for wildfire," Mayor Kirk Watson said, urging neighborhood groups and homeowners associations to request presentations through readycentraltexas.org.

The nut graf: City and county leaders described the initiatives as part of a coordinated strategy to map hazards, clarify interagency roles, improve evacuation planning and strengthen eligibility for state and federal mitigation funds. Officials emphasized early firefighting and prevention as key to keeping small ignitions from becoming large wildfires and asked residents to sign up for local alerting tools and follow burn bans.

Watson outlined "No Ember…