By rssfeeds-admin 
Anthony Koch was a volunteer firefighter during the 2022 complex fires that spread across Eastland County. Now, he works with a fire mitigation program for the city of Cisco thanks to a federal grant. He reminisced on the dangerous chaos and how the grant will help minimize what the region has experienced before.
“We just helped affect all the areas and helped where I could. It was devastating to see firsthand in person just how much a wildfire can destroy an entire place,” Koch said. “It’s to increase defensible spaces on properties as well as get people engaged with, you know, fire safety and fire prevention on their properties.”
That includes clearing out tall grasses and tree branches that fuel the fire. County Director Phillip Allen said as an Eastland native, he wants to give back to his community, which is working on getting back to normal.
“Removing the fuel so that hopefully it doesn’t jump from one acreage to another across the road. We’re widening the defensible space,” Allen said. “[I am] not sure to 100% that everybody’s back. We still have people who are waiting to rebuild homes, and things are there. Some people are living in travel trailers in these areas.”
Koch mentioned the program will benefit the area and would have helped during the time of a disaster.
“It would have aided a lot, and it definitely would have had a bigger impact, introducing the complete loss and devastation that came through. The biggest thing is that wildfire is unpredictable and it’s unstoppable. You can do so much in prevention,” Koch said.
The team will continue working on the precautions while the grant lasts until 2029; the grant totals $8 million. Fire safety tips homeowners should keep in mind are to watch for a dragging chain when driving trailers and keep vegetation away from homes.
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