Texas firefighter grants missed fire-prone areas

Associated Press

DALLAS — Some of the Texas counties that endured the worst damage from this month's out-of-control wildfires received only a small portion of the more than $128 million the state awarded to volunteer fire departments over about a decade for training and equipment, a state report found.

In fact, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission found in its review of the program that 59 of the 74 counties determined to have a high risk for wildfires got less than $1 million in grant money for their volunteer fire departments from 2001 through 2009, the period covered in the report.

The commission's report criticized the Texas Forest Service for not considering wildfire risk as a factor when divvying up the grants. Forest service officials say starting Sept. 1 that policy will change and such risk will be considered.

One former volunteer fire department chief in the Panhandle said he was surprised wildfire risk hasn't been used previously.

"Somebody wasn't thinking whenever they were developing the criteria for grants and such," said Ron Antalek, the former chief of the Spearman department and now its safety officer. "It's kind of strange."

Two volunteer firefighters have died fighting the wildfires that have burned more than 1 million acres in Texas this month.

John Powell, a former volunteer firefighter and close friend of Eastland volunteer firefighter Greg Simmons, who died battling a recent blaze, said a situation can turn deadly if some fighting a wildfire are well-trained and others aren't.

"Training is the key," Powell said. "The department of redundancy. You do it over and over again. And by doing that, everybody goes home. At the end of the day, that's all that matters."

Forest service officials said the only reason wildfire risk wasn't considered previously was because it wasn't part of the legislation that established the grant program and that county-specific data has been available for only a few years. Even without considering wildfire risk, the agency has never denied a request for trucks or training, the officials said.
There are 1,042 volunteer departments in Texas with about 28,000 firefighters, according to information from the State Firemen's & Fire Marshals' Association.

"We understand that volunteer firefighters are the first line of defense and know how important that is," forest service director Tom Boggus said.

The sunset commission's analysis, which was released in January and is currently being considered by the Texas Legislature, found counties with a low risk for wildfires had received a greater share of the $128 million handed out through the Texas Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program than many of those with the highest risk.

Three of the high-risk counties that received less than $1 million — Tom Green, Andrews and Palo Pinto — have been significantly affected by the current fires. Palo Pinto is one of two counties where firefighters have battled a blaze covering nearly 150,000 acres around Possum Kingdom Lake, a popular recreation area 70 miles west of Fort Worth.

Severe fires have posed a threat in Texas long before this month. In 2006, massive wildfires swept across nearly a million acres of the parched prairie in the Texas Panhandle, killing 12 and straining the resources of small volunteer fire departments.

There are 254 counties in Texas, of which 207 are under burn bans. The risk for wildfires by county is determined by the Southern Wildfire Risk Assessment, a consortium of state and federal agencies.

According to the commission's report, 18 of the 59 high-risk counties that didn't top $1 million in grants are in the Panhandle.

For a volunteer firefighter from one of those counties, a fire recently proved deadly. Volunteer firefighter Elias Jaquez of the Cactus Volunteer Fire Department in Moore County died April 20, 11 days after suffering third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body.

Forest service records obtained by The Associated Press show the Cactus department has received $168,211 in grant funds, including $155,000 for a large brush truck. None of the money was for training.

"I personally have not seen anything about education funds," Cactus City Manager Steve Schmidt-Witcher said.

Simmons' department in Eastland has received $118,929 in grant funds, including $14,488 for training tuition, according to forest service records.

Antalek, the former Spearman chief, said volunteer departments lack the expertise to make their grant applications stand out.

However, the region's firefighters will be better trained going forward. A $120,000 federal grant and $24,000 from an endowment set up by the family of Katherine Ryan, who died in wildfires near Borger in 2006, have led to the creation of the Top of Texas Rural Fire Academy.

"We'll do it on our own," Antalek said. "We don't need the rest of the state to take care of us."

The Sunset review was the first in the 96-year history of the forest service, part of the Texas A&M University System. The commission, which evaluates Texas' state agencies every 12 years, typically doesn't scrutinize those affiliated with higher education. However, the forest service was reviewed due to "a noteworthy amount of discontent by current and former employees," the report said.

The commission also criticized the forest service for a lack of transparency and accountability in managing the grant program, noting that important documents aren't posted on the agency's Web site.

Mark Stanford, the forest service's director of operations, said the agency rates grant applicants using a formula that includes population, size of protection area and closest mutual aid.

"Really, about the only complaint we get is, 'How come I can't get my truck faster?'" he said.

Blaney reported from Lubbock.