The recent rains and emerging greenery could lull us into forgetting that there is a serious risk of wildfire in Great Hills Park. However, by summer we will likely find the park a dry tinderbox that could easily ignite to create a fast-moving wildfire, threatening both the park and the surrounding homes.
Our best defense is to remove as much of the dead-and-down brush that we can, particularly the smaller brush (~ ¼ inch) that catches fire easily and produces embers that are swept up by winds and scattered where they can ignite additional blazes.
COME JOIN YOUR NEIGHBORS ON SATURDAY APRIL 25, 9AM-NOON, FOR A WILDFIRE MITIGATION WORKDAY. We will meet at the Fox Way trailhead, off Penny Creek Drive. This will be our third wildfire mitigation workday following ones last May (Floral Park area) and December (Sierra Oaks & Sierra Nevada area). Both of those workdays were well attended and highly successful, removing almost 6000 pounds of brush. We will collect and drag brush to the trailhead, where it will be stacked. A couple of days after the workday a contractor (cost shared by the Great Hills Park Committee and Austin Parks Foundation) will collect and haul away the stacked brush.
There is additional information and you may register at this LINK, which helps us plan. You may also register in person on the 25th.
Thank you,
Mark Johnson
Chair, Great Hills Park Committee