Emergency director calls for state-owned firefighting air force in Texas

A series of wildfires in Texas, including the largest in state history, hit the Panhandle region earlier this year, causing at least two deaths and the destruction of more than one million acres of land. During a series of hearings into the fires held last week, Texas’s top emergency manager emphasized to a panel of lawmakers the need to establish a state-owned firefighting aircraft division.

But Texan landowners tasked with assisting the legislature in the investigation raised doubts over the ability of the state to handle the threat of wildfires, according to a report in the Texas Tribune.

“We don’t control our own destiny, and I want to control our destiny”, Nim Kidd, Chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, was reported to have said to a group of more than 100 people in Pampa’s MK Brown Civic Center.

The panel evaluated factors that contributed to the wildfires, the distribution of resources and the effectiveness of current mitigation measures. It was also expected to consider the relationship between local, state, and federal government agencies regarding prevention and response.

The committee’s report is due to be published by 1 May.

Texas currently relies on contractors for supplying firefighting aircraft. However, at the time of the February fires, many of the planes were out of action due to being serviced.

In Pampa, Kidd put forth the idea that the state builds its own firefighting air force with up to six aircraft, costing at least $50 million.

“It won’t be an easy venture to start with, and we will have to continue with contracts while this is built up and people are trained. It will take some time,” Kidd said, according to the Texas Tribune, adding that for the time being the state would be required to utilize a mixture of private contracts and other options.