A brush fire tore through an abandoned building in southeast Austin on Wednesday, triggering a multi-agency response and a brush alarm as flames pushed into nearby dry vegetation. Fire crews stopped the fire's forward progress and shifted to protecting nearby properties while investigators began looking into what sparked the blaze.
What crews found
Travis County Fire Rescue crews responding to reports of a grass fire at 10819 Moore Road arrived to find an abandoned structure already fully engulfed in flames, communications specialist David Colon told KEYE. Officials upgraded the call to a brush alarm to pull in additional resources, and the Austin Fire Department joined in the suppression efforts, according to the station.
Context: burn ban and wildfire risk
The fire hit as officials continue to spotlight dry conditions and elevated wildfire risk across Travis County. County leaders extended a burn ban this spring in unincorporated areas in an effort to cut down on grass and brush fires, Community Impact reported. The City of Austin's wildfire resources lay out steps property owners can take to create defensible space and comply with Wildland-Urban Interface rules, and the city's Wildland-Urban Interface page offers code guidance and planning tools for homeowners and builders.
Investigation ongoing
The cause of the Moore Road fire remains under investigation, and officials have not released additional details to the public. Photos published with the report, credited to Travis County Fire Rescue, show firefighters attacking flames that had pushed into brush around the building while engines and hand crews worked to secure the perimeter, according to KEYE.
