On April 10th, we joined the West Austin Rotary Club for their meeting. Our speaker was Randy Denzer, who has more than 30 years in the fire service and is one of the highest certified and qualified wildland firefighters in central Texas. He retired last year as an operations Battalion Chief with the Austin Fire Department (AFD). His last assignment at AFD was Battalion 2 B-Shift in Northwest Austin. Randy spoke about "Wildfire Danger in Austin." Randy told us about how the west Austin area is at high risk for an urban wildfire because of the vast number of cedar trees in that area. It is not a matter of if but when such a wildfire will occur. With these types of fires, fire fighters may only be able to evacuate and not fight the fires. This is something that Austin firefighters had not been taught in 2011 when a wind driven fire occurred in Steiner Ranch. Several firefighters suffered heat exhaustion because they kept trying to save the houses on fire in Steiner Ranch. Now Austin firefighters are the some of the best trained in urban wildfire situations. Randy discussed some of the solutions to the problem, such as resilient landscapes, fire-adapted communities, and safe and effective wildfire response. However, in the end the true solution is to clear the cedar trees and create stands of trees in their place with a maintenance program to keep things that way. This is not an inexpensive solution but the best way to resolve the issue. Meanwhile, everyone should understand the risk depending upon where they live in Austin. Thanks Randy for such an informative presentation!