Texas Wildfire

This interactive tool within the Texas Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal (TxWRAP) can be used to identify areas within Texas that are at greatest risk of wildfire and view historical wildfire occurrences. It is especially useful for identifying areas of risk in the wildland-urban interface and prioritizing areas where tactical analyses, community interaction, or mitigation treatments might be necessary to reduce risk. Note: There is a learning curve associated with this tool. Basic Viewer is accessible to anyone but is limited. Advanced Viewer is also free but requires account request. The Advanced Viewer option allows users to generate reports and download data for their project area. 

1. Scroll down to the Tools section and click Texas Wildfire Risk Explorer. 2. On the next page, select Basic or Advanced Viewer. The following instructions are for the Advanced option, as map layers are very limited for the Basic option. 3. Click Assess Your Location on the top of the page. Pan and zoom in on the map to center the black dot on your area of interest. The left panel displays the overall Wildfire Exposure Score and a short description about the need to implement mitigation actions. 4. Click on Map Themes on the top of the page. There are several map layer options on the left-hand menu. Select the layer you want to view and see details about each layer by hovering over the circular “i” icon. The Historical Fire Occurrence section may be of particular use. 5. To compare two layers, click on the second icon (divider) under the search bar at the top right of the page. 6. Click Project Areas at the top of the page to ultimately generate a comprehensive risk summary report for your area and export data. 7. Create your own project boundary using a custom shape that you draw on the map, select from a reference layer, or upload a shapefile. 8. After creating a project boundary, click Create at the bottom of the left panel. You can then enter your email address, click the button to generate a summary report or export data, and click the send button next to your email. Note: Data are displayed at a very fine (25-meter) resolution, so you may need to greatly zoom in to view more details on the map. To read more details about each map layer and the project areas feature in the user manual or download state-specific data packages, please visit https://texaswildfirerisk.com/riskexplorerresources/.  

This tool provides a wildfire climatology for daily, monthly, yearly, and seasonal time scales. It can be used to assess the time of year with the highest probability of wildfires. The tool also provides a climatology for other hazards (e.g., any severe storm, lightning, wind, hail, tornado). 

1. Within the Hazard drop-down menu, select Fire. 2. Within the Climatology Interval menu, select the option you are interested in. For all options other than Yearly, there is a horizontal scroll bar under the map to change the map view to each day, month, or season of the year. Note: Read the title and colorbar for each selection, as there are differences in what is shown. 3. Within the Threshold menu, select the number of acres. 4. Under Map Overlays, check any layers of interest. 5. Click your area of interest on the map to view the probability of wildfire for your selection. 6. Use the download feature to receive a clean output map for the full U.S. with a legend. 7. Read more about the probability calculations and map information in the About section. 

This tool provides information and resources for communities to understand, explore, and reduce wildfire risk. Mitigation resources and programs for action are provided in the Incentive and Action Programs for Hazard Risk Reduction menu item, but this part of the tool allows users to explore risk for a community, tribal area, county, or state. This tool provides the risk to homes, wildfire likelihood, risk reduction zones, and vulnerable populations in the selected area, which are also compared to the rest of the state, county, or nation.

1. In the search bar, enter your desired community, tribal area, county, or state. 2. On the results page, you’ll see a summary statement comparing the selected area’s wildfire risk to the rest of the nation. Below this is a summary of the risk to homes, wildfire likelihood, risk reduction zone, and vulnerable populations, with a risk of low to high. 3. Select one of these risk tiles to view more information and access an interactive map. 4. The resulting page includes a summary statement, interactive map, descriptive information about that risk, and action information. 5. The Risk to Homes and Wildfire Likelihood options include an interactive graph of percentiles that compares your selected area to others. The default geographic comparison is Nation but you can select a different option (e.g., county or state) from the Compare to drop-down menu at the top of the page. Hover over the points on the graph to explore the information (red points represent higher risk or likelihood). Switch to other risk pages by using the tabs on the top of the page.

This tool provides historical wildfire statistics for Texas, including annual reports of state- and county-level wildfire statistics (e.g., total fires, acres burned), lists of significant wildfires, and case studies.

1. Under Fire Statistics, view the state-wide total number of wildfires and acres burned by year in the table below. To view state-level statistics by month or annual county-level statistics for a year, click one of the hyperlinked years in the table to open the report. 2. Scroll down the page to view other significant wildfires in Texas history and case studies. Note: Most statistics and information include data starting in 2005, but the Largest Wildfires in Texas History has a longer period of record that isn’t listed.

This document includes a series of static graphics and tables within a scientific report. It can be used to identify the best months to conduct prescribed burns as a wildfire management strategy. Coupled with tools such as TxWRAP, one can target locations and timing for safe burning along the wildland-urban interface. The report describes the average, minimum, and maximum number of days with a consecutive 4-hour period suitable for prescribed fire as a management tool to reduce vegetation fuel load and improve vegetation health.

Tables and Figures relevant to Texas: Tables 2, 9, and 10; Figures 9-22, Figures 27-49 in Appendix A-C, Figures 7-9 in Appendix D.

This interactive tool shows WUI (Wildland-Urban Interface) changes between 1990, 2000, and 2010 for locations of interest. It shows the effects of housing growth on the environment and which areas may need more local land management related to WUI issues.

1. Zoom in to the desired location on the map. 2. On the left side of the screen, select year, base map, and layer opacity of interest. Note: Texas-specific data and map files (down to the county level) are available by scrolling down the page.

View common and prominent wind speeds and directions for your area. Plots can be viewed by monthly average and by the long-term yearly average. This tool can be used to view the wind climatology and the predominant direction in which air pollutants flow. It may also be useful for understanding how wildfire events may evolve in a community.

1. In the Select By Network section, choose Texas ASOS then click Switch Network. 2. Select station of interest, either from the list or map, then click Select Station. 3. You will be brought to a new page. Near the top of the page, click on the Wind Roses tab. 4. The yearly climatology is displayed at the top of the page, and monthly climatologies are displayed below that. Click View Raw Data on any plot to view more details.