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Between April 17th and April 24th, three separate units of Lake Meredith NRA and Alibates Flint Quarries NM were successfully burned. The prescribed fire included 1,936 acres on park land and 183 acres on private land (with written permission from owners) for a total of 2,119 acres.
Preparations for the burns began last October 2001, but the fires had to be delayed due to Texas Panhandle weather conditions.
One of the burns involved a community on the urban interface, with more than 200 homes in close proximity to the burn. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission required 92 homeowners to sign an approval form to permit the park to burn within 300 feet of their properties; of them, 91 signed the waiver, offering strong support for the burns. One 60-acre block was not burned because the landowner had not signed the waiver.
Ranch owners played a major role in a second burn unit, having signed an MOU to permit the park to burn their ranch lands and to allow firefighters to employ ranch roads that provided suitable fire breaks — in turn affording greater safety for firefighters.
Open houses and community meetings were held with the public, ranch owners, and oil and gas operators prior to burning.
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