The threat of wildfires in Blanco County will be the topic of the Blanco County Disaster Response Group Saturday morning in Blanco.

The hazard is obvious, as we've been seeing in the news every day. Last year's rains left us tall grass, now dead through the winter, and strong winds mean any fire that gets into the grass and brush will roar across the county at high speed.

The State Operations Center in Austin reported almost 300 such fires statewide, three of them in neighboring Hays County. At the beginning of this week, the SOC said the threat in Blanco County was critical.

Local, state and federal firefighting manpower and equipment are being activated all over Texas, and firefighting aircraft have been brought in from outside the state.

Why is this happening now?

What is starting all these fires?

What is being done about them?

Is there a role for well-intentioned volunteers?

What can an ordinary citizen do to protect his own land and home...and family?

Get the answers to those questions and more Saturday morning from Blanco Volunteer Fire Department Lt. Lynn Hicks. The meeting is at 9:30 am at St Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, 218 Pittsburgh at Singleton, in Blanco. (There's a map at http://stmichaelsblanco.org/.) The meeting is free and everyone is welcome.

The Blanco County Disaster Response Group also welcomes new members interested in helping prepare for and respond to wildfires and other disasters in this and surrounding counties. For additional information on this meeting or the Group, call JoAnne Routh at 830-868-0808.

How hot is this topic? The Disaster Response Group scheduled this meeting with two expert speakers well before the current outbreak of wildfires began. When the state began staffing up the fire operations center, one of the experts they pulled in was the other scheduled speaker, leaving Lt Hicks to carry the ball alone.