AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Firefighters Association President Bob Nicks has a stark warning for Austin leaders and residents: What you’re seeing play out in Los Angeles, is not out of the question for our city.

“I think that they [Austinites] should internalize that what we see in LA…could happen to a large degree here in Austin, in the right conditions, and most conditions exist today,” Nicks said.

Nicks pointed to Austin’s topography, specifically in northwest and west Austin where fuel loads are high. He also pointed to Austin’s often intensely dry conditions.

“When we have the winds, we have the exact same conditions we are seeing in LA,” Nicks said. “And that’s why Austin is considered one of the five highest risk in the nation, the only one outside of California, by the way, nationally, to have the chance of catastrophic fires.”

The lone factor LA is seeing right now that Austin is not, Nicks explained, is high winds. In fact, gusts were predicted to reach near hurricane-force in some areas in California Tuesday.

“We don’t have strong winds. But when strong winds exist — and that’s why we had the big Bastrop fires, we had a prevalence of strong winds going one direction for a while — and it does happen occasionally, all the conditions come together…it’ll be a condition similar to what we’re seeing in LA,” Nicks said.

‘It’s time the fire department gets that level of attention’

Nicks said the “dirty little secret” about fighting fires like the ones in LA right now, is that once they get to a certain size, you can’t stop them.

“You don’t have enough water or resources to stop the head of that fire. It’s going to be spewing embers a mile or more ahead burning areas within the city,” Nicks said. “And so what you want to do is you want to have a fast response with capable people in the right numbers, and you want fuels reduced in high-risk areas to some extent so you have a chance to keep the fire small. If you can’t keep the fire small, you’re looking at what you have in LA.”

Which is why Nicks thinks the city of Austin needs to focus on three areas right now: the Wildland-Urban Interface Code, getting additional ladder trucks and AFD staffing.

“We need to do something now, we’ve done a lot, we need to do more,” Nicks said. “We need to mitigate fuels in high-risk areas, we need to beef up our firefighting forces and keep them well prepared,” Nicks said.

Nicks said the Wildland-Urban Interface Code does not yet give the city enough teeth to require fuel mitigation in high-risk areas.

He also once again pointed to the fact that the city has not put a new ladder truck into service since 1995, something KXAN has reported on extensively. Those trucks are not only a piece of equipment, but also have the captains with the highest level of tactical training on them.

“I think, you know, EMS and police have received some really good attention in the last couple years about increasing their their resources, and rightfully so, and I think it’s time the fire department get that level of attention,” Nicks said.