South Texas has been dealing with overwhelming drought in recent months, which means brush fires can spread easily.
Texas International Produce Association’s Dante Galeazzi states, “With fire you’ve got a lot of different things happening. Obviously, there’s the fear of actually physical damage happening as a result. I mean you could have an entire orchard burn down.”
There are other concerns about what could happen if these dry fields catch fire and spread. “You have the smoke damage and the ash. Both of those can cause damages that would be incredibly difficult to find a way to get a field dressed or clean, especially if you have something like vegetables...,” according to Galeazzi.
Local fire fighters are fully prepared for brush fires. Many of them remember an incident that showed how much devastation a brush fire can cause. “We had the big fire that occurred in the Valley about ten years ago. It literally traveled 44 miles before we were able to get it stopped. There was hundreds of cattle that had to put down and also died, because of the fire...they succumbed to the spread of the fire,” Texas Fire Chief, Shawn Snider states.
Snider adds that controlled burns need a permit and you should always have a water source nearby; it is surprising how fast a fire can spread. Also, a breeze from the Texas Gulf can attribute to a quick spread.