By a unanimous vote Tuesday morning, the Hidalgo County Commissioners’ Court declared a local state of disaster in relation to wildfires that have recently ravaged the region.
The disaster declaration was made during an emergency meeting of the commissioners’ court that was held immediately before Tuesday’s regular meeting.
“This, of course, is to protect everyone out there in the ranch areas, you know, all of our ranchers, receive some compensation for some of their losses,” Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez said just before the commission voted.
Hidalgo County Emergency Management Coordinator Rick Saldaña described the recent fires as having caused “local and widespread damage.”
A spate of wildfires have afflicted Hidalgo and Starr counties in recent weeks, burning thousands of acres of land as dry conditions persist in the region.
The combination of low humidity, lack of precipitation and strong spring winds creates a tinderbox of perfect conditions for wildfires to spawn and quickly spread, local officials have said.
Last Thursday, multiple fire crews from the Rio Grande Valley responded to a 52,000-acre fire on the King Ranch in Kleberg County known as the Borrega Fire. Crews from out-of-state, as well as the Texas A&M Forest Service, also helped combat the conflagration.
Closer to home, many of those same fire crews have also responded to wildfires in Hidalgo County.
“Over the past several weeks, Hidalgo County has battled at least four wildfires that burned more than 800 acres,” Cortez said in a news release.
“This emergency declaration will help facilitate future recovery efforts and help us enact local safety measures,” he said.
One blaze, which erupted just north of Edinburg near the Edinburg Motorsports Park, burned through several hundred acres of land, according to Weslaco Fire Chief Antonio “Tony” Lopez.
Another blaze sprung up near the intersection of Val Verde Road and Earling Road in rural Donna, the chief said.
As in the aftermath of a hurricane, declaring a local state of disaster primes the county to be able to accept any disaster relief funding that may be approved by the state or federal government in the future.
Currently, however, county officials are unsure of if or when such relief may be coming.
“This is just the first step in the process. We can’t get the state assistance without doing this locally,” Precinct 1 Hidalgo County Commissioner David Fuentes said Tuesday.
Declaring a local state of disaster also puts the county’s staffers on alert to track what resources are being used for fire response.
“What we can start doing now is we can start accumulating the response investment — in dollars and resources. Because, it’s more than just the money that we put into it, it’s the manpower, the fuel, the cars, any sort of equipment that’s mobilized,” Fuentes said.
The commissioners’ court also passed a 90-day burn ban during Tuesday’s meeting.
“It doesn’t mean you can’t have a fire, it means you have to go to our fire marshal and ask for a permit to be able to have an outdoor fire,” Cortez said.
Though the burn ban allows for trash burning with an appropriate permit, as well as barbecuing, “Outdoor burning of any kind is prohibited on any day when (a) ‘FIRE WATCH or RED-FLAG’ weather advisory is issued by the National Weather Service,” the order reads.
The county judge added that Hidalgo County itself does not own any firefighting apparatus. Instead, the county is reliant upon mutual aid agreements to combat rural wildfires.
“As you know, we do not own a single fire truck in the county. We contract with other municipality fire departments to help us protect the rural areas from fires,” Cortez said, calling the interagency cooperation a “community of communities.”
Fuentes echoed the importance of the cooperation that local fire departments rely on to keep Valley communities safe.
“You’re always gonna see neighbors help neighbors here,” Fuentes said. “You’re always gonna see that we’re gonna step up to the plate and help each other out in times of need.”
