County Pumps Up Fire Safety

Young County was on high alert last week for fire danger, with firefighters from the state forestry service camping at the Young County Arena after models pegged Young County as the likeliest spot for a wildfire to erupt, County Judge Win Graham said.

“We enjoyed all the rains in the spring and we are paying for it now,” he said.

County Commissioners issued a burn ban last month as temperatures soared and the plentiful vegetation dried out.

“We had so much rain it was so wet earlier that all this grass and vegetation has grown so we do have an incredible amount of fuel right now,” Judge Graham said.

So far, no major fires have erupted, but Jarod Cook, the county’s liaison with the Texas Department of Emergency Management, warned in a Facebook post that he has issued $500 tickets for flouting the ban.

The County also has a new communications system called E-Dispatch that is helping foster cooperation among local fire departments, Judge Graham said. The system sends a tone to all County firefighters’ cell phones for every fire.

“It’s on all our phones,” he said. “We get a tone and it will say, ‘Attention, Olney Fire Department,’ but we all get it and honestly we have incredible communications between the fire departments. When they need help, they ask for help and everyone comes running.”

Olney Volunteer Fire Department is grappling with mechanical problems with its aging water truck, officials said.

Judge Graham said he was traveling to Austin in coming weeks to learn whether lawmakers had approved any funding for rural fire departments.

The City of Olney and the community came together to raise money and provide new radios for the OVFD after the Campbell Ranch Fire, a fast moving blaze that scorched more than 8,000 acres in August of 2023.

The OVFD turned the fire over to state and federal fire agencies after an exhausing four days of battling the dangerous, wind-driven blaze in temperatures that soared to 110 degrees F.

The state and federal teams arrived to find the fire moving at a high rate of speed through 18- to 24-inch grasses. The blaze, which started at FM 1768 on Campbell Ranch Road, was believed to have been caused by a lightning strike, fire officials said.