The city of Lakeway took the first step Nov. 19 in becoming a Firewise Community.

According to Lakeway City Manager Steve Jones, wildfires have been an increased concern since the 2011 Labor Day fires, and the national Firewise Communities program offers a method to address the concern.

"While extreme droughts and wildfires are part of the natural history of this area, something has changed in the last few decades," said Bob Kirmes, member of the city's Emergency Preparedness Committee. "It's what we call the expansion of wildlife-urban interface—that is, the buildup of homes around some of these reserves and greenbelts and such. This has resulted in an accumulation of fuels in those wildlands."

According to Kirmes, before European settlement, the natural fires of the area would thin out forest undergrowth, but lately, without the natural fires, there has been a buildup of organic matter.

In 2011, abnormal conditions increased the risk of fire moving vertically through canopies—a concept known as torching, Assistant Fire Chief John Durham said. The buildup of organic ground fuels, which the Firewise program will be addressing, as well as ladder fuels, which are additional tall grasses, medium to heavy brush and limbs on trees that extend to the forest floor, all greatly increase fire risks.

"When you get live fuel moisture and everything from these finer fuels to these heavier fuels to such extremes, a fire can torch vertically and then horizontally, crown to crown, as we like to call it. This is when we can have extreme fire conditions," Durham said.

The Firewise program provides oversight and incentives to communities that commit to making their neighborhoods safe against wildfires. Precautions such as proper spacing, maintenance of landscaping and plants, and hardening properties against ember intrusion are all provisions Firewise encourages to increase homes' ignition resistance.

Following in the footsteps of Steiner Ranch, Spicewood Springs, Lago Vista, and Jonestown—which have already obtained recognition as Firewise communities—the city of Lakeway will adhere to the same guidelines. The recognition procedures the city voted to move forward with include forming a Firewise committee to spearhead the process, performing a communitywide risk assessment with the aid of the local fire department and the regional specialist, and creating and implementing an action plan based of the risk assessment. After applying, the committee is required to maintain the risk assessment and action plan, observe an annual Firewise Day, invest at least $2 per capita per year, and send an annual report to the Firewise program.

"The program makes it possible for homeowners to get [their home ignition zone] assessed," Kirmse said. The home ignition zone program allows for trained individuals to evaluate properties for fire risks.

With the first steps of the program approved, the community then must decide on a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, a comprehensive planning tool designed to help communities identify and reduce risks from wildfires. The City of Lakeway, however, will not be taking action to form a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Travis County and Austin are undertaking a protection plan to be complete in mid-2013, and Lakeway hopes to adapt it to the city's specific needs in the future.