Free wildfire app now available for Texas residents

Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety: After the costliest wildfire season in Texas last year, the Texas Forest Service and Texas A&M University have launched a free online application that aims to alert residents throughout the state of wildfire dangers.

The so-called TxWRAP application allows residents to enter their home or business’ location in order to find wildfire risks specific to that location. Not only does the application provide wildfire risks based on current weather conditions, the tool also provides information on wildfire risks based on topography.

Professional users can also generate reports and packaged materials using the application in order to provide warnings of wildfire risks to large groups.

The application comes after the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) estimates that 2011 was the costliest year for wildfires in Texas with insured losses estimated at more than $500 million. In addition, insured loss estimates from the Bastrop Complex Wildfire in the state have reached $325 million due to the destruction of more than 1,600 homes, becoming the costliest in the state’s history, according to ICT...

Two Texas National Guard UH-60 Blackhawks fly over the flames to dump their water filled Bambi Buckets. Texas National Guard crews launched out of the Austin Army Aviation Facility to fight wild fires threatening homes and property near Bastrop, Texas, September 6, 2011. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Malcolm McClendon, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.