Austin, TX

Austin Fire using high-tech mapping to help prevent wildfire disasters

Published

2 hours ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

Austin Fire using high-tech mapping to help prevent wildfire disasters

Austin Fire using advanced mapping to prevent wildfires

Austin firefighters are using advanced mapping technology to make sure they are prepared in the event of a wildfire.

AUSTIN, Texas – As devastating wildfires continue to rage across Southern California, the Austin Fire Department is taking some proactive measures to prepare for the possibility of a similar catastrophe striking closer to home.

Multiple lives lost, immeasurable destruction, and a community in crisis as the southern California wildfires continue to wreak havoc.

For Austin Fire Department’s Senior Geospatial Analyst Braniff Davis, it’s not a matter of if, but when a devastating wildfire breaks out in the area.

To help stay prepared for a wildfire, the agency uses high-tech mapping from a company called Esri.

What they’re saying:

“We use GIS or geographic information spatial information in order to help prepare the Austin Fire Department for fighting wildfires,” Davis said.

The city of Austin is using their high-tech mapping to improve fire prevention, response and damage assessment.

“It’s a great example of a local government addressing the risk in their community and either preventing or mitigating the risk and being able to respond to it,” Esri’s Director of Fire, Rescue and EMS Mike Cox said.

Big picture view:

Here’s how it works. It all starts with understanding risk, understanding the topography and who is being impacted by the incidents.

“As an example, I can do an analysis in GI and understand how many homes have disabilities within a certain planning zone or how many homes don’t have vehicles based on, you know, with concerns for evacuation, you know, who can self-evacuate and who can’t. So, these kind of data sets are available to these responders, to these agencies to be able to do this kind of planning,” Cox said.

Then, it’s about planning the response through geographic information technology.

First responders can now track firefighter locations, coordinate large-scale search and rescue efforts, and even monitor the movement of responding helicopters in real-time.

“What you’re seeing there is obviously a map with structural footprints. You see those tracks that are laid by the responders as they move through an area, and they’re dropping symbology around damage assessment of homes or evacuations. It’s incredibly important in a command post or an emergency operations center to be able to deploy resources efficiently and put people where they need to be to have the most impact and also to keep our responders out of hazardous areas,” Cox said.

Finally comes the recovery phase.

Esri mapping can identify where the damaged structures are post-fire to help begin the rebuild process.

“The recovery process at a federal level as they start tracking these damage assessments and can start funneling the funding to the right agencies and right people that need the help the most based on this data collection,” said Cox.

Local perspective:

For Davis, he says, while in its early stages, these tools are being used city wide by Austin Fire, with the hope for all other first responding agencies to utilize them in the future.

In the meantime, he says all AFD firefighters are being trained on how to use the situational awareness platform ahead of the next wildfire.

The goal, he says, is to get resources out to a fire as soon as it happens.

“Once we can get everybody all their data into this platform, then it just becomes a seamless one-stop shop for every bit of information you need for an emergency situation,” Davis said.

Dig deeper:

More information on Austin’s Wildfire Hub can be found here: Wildfire

More on Esri: GIS Software for Mapping and Spatial Analytics | Esri

The Source: Information in this article comes from FOX 7’s Jenna King’s interviews.

WildfiresAustin

Source link

Click to comment

Austin, TX

AFD crews fight south Austin vacant structure fire

Published

9 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

AFD crews fight south Austin vacant structure fire

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A vacant structure in south Austin caught fire Saturday evening, according to the Austin Fre Department. This was located in the 7800 block of Peaceful Hill Lane, near the intersection of West William Cannon Drive and South Congress Avenue.

A large plume of smoke could be seen from all over Austin around 6:00 P.M.

AFD said crews were able to extinguish the fire at 7:00 p.m. In addition to the structure, an 18-wheeler and tire piles also caught on fire.

A vacant structure in south Austin Saturday evening caught fire. (Austin Fire Department Photo)

The Austin active fire incident page said the call for the fire came in just before 6:00 p.m.

AFD told KXAN that no one was inside the structure and there were no reported injuries.

This is a developing story. Check back with KXAN.com for updates.

Source link

Austin, TX

Proposed bill would relocate Border Patrol headquarters to Texas

Published

18 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Proposed bill would relocate Border Patrol headquarters to Texas

AUSTIN, Texas — U.S. Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, has introduced a bill that would move headquarters for the United States Customs and Border Patrol to Texas.

What You Need To Know

A proposed bill, introduced by Rep. Keith Self, would move U.S. Customs and Border Patrol headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Texas

Relocating Border Patrol headquarters is part of President-elect Donald Trump’s larger plan to relocate thousands of federal employees

An Austin-based immigration attorney calls the proposed move of CBP to Texas an action to garner attention but believes it won’t affect determined asylum seekers

A political scientist says he isn’t confident Self’s bill will become law, but if it does, Gov. Greg Abbott could benefit

Self posed the question on X, formerly Twitter, asking “Why is the agency responsible for securing the border 2,000 miles away from the border?”

The proposed bill would move U.S. Customs and Border Patrol headquarters from Washington, D.C. to the Lone Star State.

“Doing so will be cost-effective and critical to bringing President Trump’s fight to the border,” Self said.

“This proposal fits a broader pattern that President Trump engaged in during his first term of trying to decentralize the federal government,” said Mark Jones, a Rice University professor of political science.

Relocating Border Patrol headquarters is part of President-elect Donald Trump’s larger plan to relocate thousands of federal employees.

“As many as 100,000 government positions can be moved out. And I mean immediately out of Washington to places filled with patriots who love America,” Trump said.

During his first term, Trump moved the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service to Kansas City, Missouri, and the Bureau of Land Management to Colorado. Jones says he isn’t confident Self’s bill will become law, but if it does, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott could benefit.

“It’s one thing to propose moving an agency outside of the D.C. metro area to another state. It’s another thing to actually do so in practice, in part because so many of the employees will not want to move,” Jones said. “This fits very well with his belief that Texas and the state should be playing a more active role in border security. Having Customs and Border Patrol here in Texas would, I think, be a natural fit from the perspective of the governor.”

Recently, Abbott authorized dozens of billboards across South America and Mexico to stop border crossings.

“We will work with the Trump administration to deport them,” said Abbott.

Self says his bill “will allow America’s Border Patrol agents to be on the ground at the critical point of the crisis.”

But an Austin-based immigration attorney calls the proposed move an action to garner attention but believes it won’t affect determined asylum seekers.

“If we were to expand legal immigration options, temporary work programs, ways for people to access asylum protections without having to be at the border, then we would see a lot of this immigration along the border with Mexico go down,” Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said.

If passed, Kristi Noem, Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, will be required to work with Texas to select an area “strategically placed” to address border security.

Source link

Austin, TX

Cotton Bowl 2025: Ohio State defeats Texas 28-14; heads to national championship

Published

1 day ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Cotton Bowl 2025: Ohio State defeats Texas 28-14; heads to national championship

article

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JANUARY 10: Jack Sawyer #33 of the Ohio State Buckeyes runs with the ball after recovering a fumble in the fourth quarter against the Texas Longhorns during the Goodyear Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium on January 10, 2025 in Ar

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Texas Longhorns 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday night.

Ohio State will go on to play Notre Dame in the national championship later this month.

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JANUARY 10: The Texas Longhorns huddle before the Goodyear Cotton Bowl against the Ohio State Buckeyes at AT&T Stadium on January 10, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

Fourth quarter:

Ohio State answered first in the fourth quarter. They took the lead 21-14 with less than eight minutes left in the game.

Texas marched down the field but came up empty-handed.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was sacked, leading to a fumble. Ohio State recovered the ball and ran it back for an 83-yard touchdown.

Ohio State now leads 28-14 with less than three minutes left.

With Texas’ first drive back, Ewers was intercepted.

Ohio State wins the Cotton Bowl Classic 28-14 over the Texas Longhorns

Third quarter:

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard threw an interception during their first drive of the quarter. Texas was unable to answer.

With less than four minutes left in the third, Texas tied the game 14-14.

Second quarter:

To start the second quarter, Texas fumbled the ball twice, but recovered the ball both times.

Ohio State had several penalties, keeping them from marching up the field.

Texas tied the game 7-7 with less than a minute left in the first half.

Ohio State answered back with a 75-yard run for a touchdown. Ohio State took the lead again, 14-7, to end the first half.

First quarter:

Ohio State won the coin toss and deferred for the second half. The Longhorns will have the ball first.

Texas was unable to score on their first possession of the game. Ohio State now has the ball.

Ohio State is on the board first. Texas trails 7-0.

To end the first quarter, Ohio State had the lead 7-0.

Texas vs Ohio State: How to watch, stream

Texas Longhorns vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Where: AT&T Stadium – Arlington, Texas
Date: Friday, Jan. 10
Time: 6:30 p.m. (CT)
TV: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN, DirecTV, Hulu with Live TV, Fubo, YouTube TV (with subscription)

Match-ups to Watch

Quarterbacks

Neither quarterback in this game is a stranger to playing in Arlington.

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard and Ewers both won Big 12 championships the last time they played at AT&T Stadium.

Texas won the Big 12 in its last season in the conference last year. Howard transferred to Ohio State from Kansas State. He led the Wildcats to a Big 12 championship win over then-undefeated TCU two years ago.

Stopping Smith

The best match-up of the game could be Texas All-American senior cornerback Jahdae Barron vs. standout Buckeyes freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith. Barron won the Thorpe Award, which is given to the nation’s top defensive back. But Barron gives up four inches and 15 pounds to Smith, the second-team All-American who may be the most electric freshman in the country. Smith has 70 receptions for 1,224 yards and 14 touchdowns. Smith has four touchdowns in these playoffs.