within a span of - cooperative.com“it was about 1,000 feet away and headed in the opposite...

7
By Janet Wilson M ark Rose was in a morning meeting at Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative’s headquarters on Tuesday, Oct. 13, when he learned about a small grass fire on a large ranch in Bastrop County. The fire was only 8 acres and it was surrounded by pastures so it didn’t appear to be a threat to homes and businesses in the co- op’s service area. By 2 p.m. the fire on the Luecke Ranch, which includes several thousand acres near Smithville, had grown to 125 acres. Rose, Bluebonnet’s general manager, stood in the co-op’s parking lot on Electric Avenue east of Bastrop. He saw ominous clouds of smoke about 9 miles to the southeast. MONTHLY MEETING OFFICE CLOSING CONTACT US OUTAGES CO-OP BOARD ELECTIONS Find out how to run in 2016 TREE TRIMMING & MORE Request Bluebonnet services online THIS MONTH Bluebonnet’s Board of Directors will meet at 9 a.m. Dec. 15, at Bluebonnet’s Headquarters, 155 Electric Ave., (formerly 650 Texas Hwy. 21 East), Bastrop. Find the agenda and last-minute updates Dec. 11 at bluebonnet.coop. Hover your cursor over ‘next board meeting’ on our home page. Bluebonnet’s offices will be closed Dec. 24-25 for the Christmas holiday and Jan. 1 for New Year’s Day. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative P.O. Box 729 Bastrop, TX 78602 Member services: 800-842-7708, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Email: [email protected] Inside 25 26 Within a span of two weeks in late October, Bluebonnet members endured a forest fire, a tornado, severe storms and record-breaking floods. Through it all, crews worked around the clock to rapidly respond and restore power. ABOUT THIS ISSUE Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative produced the blue- bordered pages 20-27 in this issue of the magazine with content that is of specific interest or relevance to Bluebonnet members. The rest of the magazine’s content is distributed statewide to any member of an electric cooperative in Texas. For information about the magazine, contact Janet Wilson at 512-750-5483 or email [email protected]. Call 800-949-4414 if you have a power outage. Keep up with outages 24/7 at bluebonnet.coop. Hover your cursor over ‘outage report’ on our home page. You can also send us a text message: To get started, text BBOUTAGE to 85700 and follow the prompts. Save that number in your contacts, perhaps as “Bluebonnet Outages.” If your power goes out, text OUT to that number. If you have our free mobile app for Android or iPhone, you can report an outage on your smartphone. ONLINE Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Connect with us on LinkedIn! Watch our videos on YouTube! BACKGROUND: A small pasture fire near Smithville grew to more than 4,000 acres after a weather front brought high winds and lower humidity. ABOVE INSET: Bluebonnet’s General Manager Mark Rose talks to crews about plans to assess damage, rebuild lines and restore power. Sarah Beal photos Rose walked inside and straight into Bluebonnet’s control center, always his first stop when an emergency — big or small — looms. He began monitoring the fire — talking to staff members who were in touch with fire, county and emergency personnel — and contacting members of Bluebonnet’s management team. By Tuesday evening, the fire had grown to 325 acres. Rose didn’t know whether the fire would spread or how much work would be required. He did know one thing — Bluebonnet’s employees and the co-op’s outside contractors would perform superbly. They had been there before. nnn Veteran Bluebonnet lineman Daniel Fritsche was working in Paige, just west of Giddings, when he got the call that Tuesday. “I could already see the fire,” Fritsche said. “I thought, ‘Here we go again.’ ” Fritsche was on call in 2009 and 2011 when the fast- moving Wilderness Ridge and Bastrop County Complex forest fires swept through the same area. Wilderness Ridge destroyed 46 homes and businesses and 1,491 acres, while the Bastrop County Complex fire remains the most destructive wildfire in Texas history. It killed two people, burned more than 1,650 homes and businesses and destroyed more than 34,000 acres. Both fires were in areas served by Bluebonnet. Fritsche remembered the scorched trees, hot smoky ash, charred homes and widespread power outages from those earlier fires, and hoped this fire would be different. He and his three-person crew drove to Old Antioch Road, just west of where the fire start- ed, to see where it was burning. They wanted to make sure it was no threat to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s big electric trans- mission lines or Bluebonnet’s power lines. Fritsche and his crew were relieved to report the fire appeared under control. Continued on page 22 ABOVE: Storms in late October caused widespread flooding along the Colorado River, seen here from the Old Iron Bridge in Bastrop. LEFT: Bluebonnet’s field operations staff consulted a map of the Hidden Pines fire burn zone each morning to plan restoration efforts. bluebonnet.coop 20 Texas Co-op Power BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE December 2015 bluebonnet.coop December 2015 BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Texas Co-op Power 21 Daniel Fritsche

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Page 1: Within a span of - Cooperative.com“It was about 1,000 feet away and headed in the opposite direction,” Fritsche remem-bers. But a weather front blew in on Wednesday. “The wind

By Janet Wilson

Mark Rose was in a morning meeting at Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative’s headquarters on Tuesday, Oct. 13, when he learned about a small grass fire on a large ranch in Bastrop County. The fire was only 8 acres and it was surrounded by

pastures so it didn’t appear to be a threat to homes and businesses in the co-op’s service area. By 2 p.m. the fire on the Luecke Ranch, which includes several thousand acres near Smithville, had grown to 125 acres. Rose, Bluebonnet’s general manager, stood in the co-op’s parking lot on Electric Avenue east of Bastrop. He saw ominous clouds of smoke about 9 miles to the southeast.

MONTHLY MEETING

OFFICE CLOSING

CONTACT US

OUTAGES

CO-OP BOARD ELECTIONS Find out how to run in 2016

TREE TRIMMING & MORERequest Bluebonnet services online

THIS MONTH

Bluebonnet’s Board of Directors will meet at 9 a.m. Dec. 15, at Bluebonnet’s Headquarters, 155 Electric Ave., (formerly 650 Texas Hwy. 21 East), Bastrop. Find the agenda and last-minute updates Dec. 11 at bluebonnet.coop. Hover your cursor over ‘next board meeting’ on our home page.

Bluebonnet’s offices will be closed Dec. 24-25 for the Christmas holiday and Jan. 1 for New Year’s Day.

Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative P.O. Box 729 Bastrop, TX 78602

Member services: 800-842-7708, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Email: [email protected]

Inside

2526

Within a span of two weeks in late October, Bluebonnet members endured a forest fire, a tornado, severe storms and record-breaking floods. Through it all, crews worked around the clock to rapidly respond and restore power.

ABOUT THIS ISSUE

Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative produced the blue-bordered pages 20-27 in this issue of the magazine with content that is of specific interest or relevance to Bluebonnet members. The rest of the magazine’s content is distributed statewide to any member of an electric cooperative in Texas. For information about the magazine, contact Janet Wilson at 512-750-5483 or email [email protected].

Call 800-949-4414 if you have a power outage. Keep up with outages 24/7 at bluebonnet.coop. Hover your cursor over ‘outage report’ on our home page. You can also send us a text message: To get started, text BBOUTAGE to 85700 and follow the prompts. Save that number in your contacts, perhaps as “Bluebonnet Outages.” If your power goes out, text OUT to that number. If you have our free mobile app for Android or iPhone, you can report an outage on your smartphone.

ONLINE

Like us on Facebook!

Follow us on Twitter!

Connect with us on LinkedIn!

Watch our videos on YouTube!

BACKGROUND: A small pasture fire near Smithville grew to more than 4,000 acres after a weather front brought high winds and lower humidity.

ABOVE INSET: Bluebonnet’s General Manager Mark Rose talks to crews about plans to assess damage, rebuild lines and restore power.

Sarah Beal photos

Rose walked inside and straight into Bluebonnet’s control center, always his first stop when an emergency — big or small — looms. He began monitoring the fire — talking to staff members who were in touch with fire, county and emergency personnel — and contacting members of Bluebonnet’s management team. By Tuesday evening, the fire had grown to 325 acres. Rose didn’t know whether the fire would spread or how much work would be required. He did know one thing — Bluebonnet’s employees and the co-op’s outside contractors would perform superbly. They had been there before. nnn

Veteran Bluebonnet lineman Daniel Fritsche

was working in Paige, just west of Giddings, when he got the call that Tuesday. “I could already see the fire,” Fritsche said.

“I thought, ‘Here we go again.’ ” Fritsche was on call in 2009 and 2011 when the fast-moving Wilderness Ridge and Bastrop County Complex forest fires swept through the same

area. Wilderness Ridge destroyed 46 homes and businesses and 1,491 acres, while the Bastrop County Complex fire remains the most destructive wildfire in Texas history. It killed two people, burned more than 1,650 homes

and businesses and destroyed more than 34,000 acres. Both fires were in areas served by Bluebonnet. Fritsche remembered the scorched trees, hot smoky ash, charred homes and widespread power outages from those earlier fires, and hoped this fire would be different. He and his three-person crew drove to Old Antioch Road, just west of where the fire start-ed, to see where it was burning. They wanted to make sure it was no threat to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s big electric trans-mission lines or Bluebonnet’s power lines. Fritsche and his crew were relieved to report the fire appeared under control.

Continued on page 22

ABOVE: Storms in late October caused widespread flooding along the Colorado River, seen here from the Old Iron Bridge in Bastrop.

LEFT: Bluebonnet’s field operations staff consulted a map of the Hidden Pines fire burn zone each morning to plan restoration efforts.

bluebonnet.coop20 Texas Co-op Power BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE December 2015 bluebonnet.coop December 2015 BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Texas Co-op Power 21

Daniel Fritsche

Page 2: Within a span of - Cooperative.com“It was about 1,000 feet away and headed in the opposite direction,” Fritsche remem-bers. But a weather front blew in on Wednesday. “The wind

“It was about 1,000 feet away and headed in the opposite direction,” Fritsche remem-bers. But a weather front blew in on Wednesday. “The wind shifted,” he said.

nnn

By Wednesday morning the fire had of-ficially been given the name “Hidden Pines” (for a nearby road) and it had seared 2,000 acres. Around noon, Bluebonnet officials cut power to more than 440 homes and busi-nesses in and adjacent to the fire zone as a safety precaution. They worked closely with Bastrop County’s Office of Emergency Man-agement, the Texas A&M Forest Service, nu-merous local fire departments and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, all of whom wanted to make sure emergency responders battling the blaze could work safely without coming into contact with live power lines. Smoke engulfed Bluebonnet’s headquarters building and surrounding property and it soon would be unsafe. Rose and Matt Bentke, Bluebonnet’s deputy general manager, decided to move the co-op’s control center to a backup location in another county Thursday morning and relocate headquarters personnel. Co-op field crews and contractors moved trucks and heavy equipment to Vernon L. Richards Riverbend Park on the Colorado River near Smithville. This would be their staging area until fire personnel gave them permission to enter the burn zone to assess the damage and restore power. By Wednes-day evening the fire had grown to more than 4,000 acres.

nnn

For the next week, Rose spent his days staying connected — with Bluebonnet teams, emergency and fire personnel, state and local officials, Bluebonnet members and the pub-lic. He shuttled between meetings, briefings, news conferences with dignitaries (including Gov. Greg Abbott, state Sen. Kirk Watson and state Rep. John Cyrier) and impromptu encounters with residents and homeowners wanting information. He took the time to answer when he could — he had friends and co-workers who lost their homes in the previ-ous fires and he knew the emotional toll of such loss. The days always ended with two meetings: a community gathering to give the public updates and answer questions, and another to talk to his management and operations teams. “The Hidden Pines fire may not be as big physically as the 2011 fire,” Rose said, “but emotionally it affects all of us.” During the fire, at 7:30 a.m. daily, Rose reported to the Incident Command Center,

ABOVE: One of six Blackhawk helicopters scoops water from Buescher State Park Lake to drop on the Hidden Pines fire.

LEFT: Bluebonnet’s Randall Bownds consults a map showing the co-op’s 60 miles of power lines in the burn zone that had to be inspected before the power was turned back on.

ABOVE: Bluebonnet crews line up to enter the burn zone to repair and replace damaged lines and equipment.

LEFT: At a makeshift workstation, Dana Barton, business manager for Bluebonnet, and Heidi Exner, assistant controller, work in the glow of a laptop before sunrise.

Continued from page 20

Continued on page 22B

22 Texas Co-op Power BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE December 2015 December 2015 BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Texas Co-op Power 22A

Sarah Beal photos

MD Anderson Center’s survival demonstrates value of defense

Safety measures taken in advance to make the property more resistant to fire helped spare The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Science Park from destruction.

Photo by Cynthia Ludwig/Creations by Cynthia Photography (PT Ludwig, pilot)

More than 600 undeveloped acres of the 700-acre University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s

Science Park near Smithville burned during the Hidden Pines fire in October. The fire came close enough to the 11-building main campus, where 270 employees work, that landscape grasses and perimeter trees were scorched and blackened. But the cancer research facility, whose buildings, equipment and research are valued at more than $500 million, survived thanks to firefighters who stayed on site, retardant dropped from the air and previous safety measures campus officials took to make the property more resistant to fire. The MD Anderson campus is nestled in the heavily wooded forest adjacent to Buescher State Park. A decade ago, MD Anderson officials began studying ways to make the property safer during wildfires, said Lisa Tannehill, director of operations and mainte-nance at the facility. More fire hydrants were added and the water line improved. Small trees and heavy undergrowth adjoining the campus were cleared in 2009, reducing wildfire fuel. A loop road was built in 2011, providing employees a second exit and creat-ing a fire barrier between the loblolly pine forest and the buildings, establishing what is called a “defensible space.” Defensible space is the area around a building where flammable vegetation and building materials are reduced or cleared to slow the spread of wildfires. These spaces not only help save buildings, but provide safe zones for firefighters to work. During the Hidden Pines fire, Texas A&M Forest Service firefighter Rich Gray and his crew were evacuating residents who lived off Park Road 1C near the cancer center when the wind shifted. The residents got out “in the nick of time,” Gray said. But the firefighters stayed. Several homeowners in the area had created defensible spaces, so firefighters felt comfortable staying.

“One house had a fire-resistant roof and non-combustible siding,” Gray said. There wasn’t a lot of furniture on the porch, the ground cover was low and well-maintained, and a driveway that wrapped in front of the house provided a safe place for the fire truck to park, he said. At the house next door, green grass and pine needles had been cleared, reducing fire fuel. Homeowners had hooked up water hoses so Gray’s crew used those instead of wasting precious water from their fire trucks. “We were able to stay because we had a safe place to work,” Gray said, “and we were able to push the fire around the houses. If there had not been defensible spaces, we would have had to leave earlier.”

— Janet Wilson

HOW TO GET STARTED Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative is working with the nonprofit Fire Citizens’ Advisory Panel, known as FireCAP, to help educate people in the co-op’s service area about how to prepare for wildfire. Visit firecaptexas.org or call 512-237-2160 to find out about free workshops.

Here are a few tips to get started:

lThin out and space brush and trees.lRemove dead vegetation.lRemove all tree limbs below 10 feet above the ground.lRemove flammable growth (generally evergreens).lCreate a nonflammable walkway or landscape feature around the base of your home.lKeep your grass well-irrigated and mowed.

Find more information at firewise.org.

bluebonnet.coop bluebonnet.coop

Page 3: Within a span of - Cooperative.com“It was about 1,000 feet away and headed in the opposite direction,” Fritsche remem-bers. But a weather front blew in on Wednesday. “The wind

Continued from page 22

initially set up at Buescher State Park then moved to the Texas A&M Forest Service’s office and a vacant field at Texas 71 and Kellar Road in Smithville. The regionally organized Southern Area Incident Command Blue Team, which includes highly trained federal, state and local individu-als who coordinate and oversee groups working on the wildfire, had set up shop there. The Blue Team is one of two southern region incident management teams available nationally to respond to the most complex events, like the Hidden Pines fire. They are dispatched through the National Interagency Coordination Center, which sup-ports federal, state and local wildfire suppres-sion efforts by reducing duplication and costs and helping mobilize services. In 2011, the Red Team was dispatched to work on the Bastrop County Complex fires. At the daily meetings, the Blue Team shared its plan for the day, and others reported the number of firefighters on the ground, the planes and helicopters dropping water and retardant from the air, the number of acres burned, road closures, relief services for displaced residents and status of the fire. Rose briefed officials about construction crews and tree experts that Bluebonnet had on standby and updated them on the co-op’s readiness to help in any way needed. Then, Rose drove to Riverbend Park, where he was briefed by his operations team, mak-ing sure Bluebonnet had the necessary crews and resources deployed to assess damage and restore power the minute they were allowed into the burn zone. After evaluating each day’s plans, at daily news conferences Rose stood before a large Bluebonnet map that showed the burn zone, the homes and businesses without electricity and estimates of when power could be restored. It was important that co-op members and the pub-lic got the information they needed as quickly as possible. “As soon as it is safe to enter the area, we will evaluate any damage done to our power lines, poles, other equipment and surrounding vegeta-tion,” Rose told the public. “We will restore power as quickly and as safely as we can.” On Friday, Oct. 17, the fourth day of the fire, Bluebonnet got the word: Crews could enter the burn zone. By then, 4,582 acres were involved, but fire officials were optimistic that they were now in control of it.

nnn

“It felt weird to walk through there – like a bomb had gone off,” said Fritsche, who had waited anxiously with co-workers at the Riverbend location. “You could still see fire in the distance. It was smoky and there were trees everywhere that were burned from the bottom up that could fall anytime.” Children’s red wagons and tricycles were

Austin American-Statesman map

Continued from page 22

Continued on page 24

TOP LEFT: Heavy smoke hangs in the air as Mark Rose talks to Bluebonnet’s crews about the work ahead in the burn zone. TOP RIGHT: Bluebonnet’s Doug Duncan, left, and David Davis document work in the burn zone using a global positioning system (GPS) as well as photographs and measurements of trees that were cut down. ABOVE: Bluebonnet’s Troy Moore, middle, uses a crane to unload one of the 45 power poles that were replaced in the burn zone. Jeffrey Bolding, left, and Chris Rivera, right, assist. BELOW: Bluebonnet’s Safety and Compliance Manager Robert Thompson inspects a burned power line.

LEFT: Bluebonnet’s Tim Mittasch makes sure power lines in the burn zone are de-energized so firefighters and first responders can safely work in the area.

RIGHT: At a news conference in Buescher State Park, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott thanks state and local officials, firefighters and first responders for their efforts during the Hidden Pines fire. From left are state Sen. Kirk Watson; Nim Kidd, Texas Division of Emergency Management chief; Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape; Bastrop County Sheriff Terry Pickering; and Sissy Jones, the sheriff’s public information officer.

ABOVE: Bluebonnet’s Jeff Hohlt and Penny Whisenant, a vegetation management contractor, inspect fire-damaged trees.

bluebonnet.coop22B Texas Co-op Power BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE December 2015 bluebonnet.coop December 2015 BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Texas Co-op Power 22C

Sarah Beal photos

Page 4: Within a span of - Cooperative.com“It was about 1,000 feet away and headed in the opposite direction,” Fritsche remem-bers. But a weather front blew in on Wednesday. “The wind

‘Lights of Tejas’ keeps a million-plus holiday bulbs glowing

bluebonnet.coop December 2015 BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Texas Co-op Power 25

overturned in yards where homes once stood. He thought of Easton, his 5-year-old son waiting at home, and the fire after a thunderstorm that destroyed the Fritsche family’s home in Dime Box when he was in junior high. “I know what it’s like to have only the clothes on your back,” Fritsche said. The burn zone, already filled with firefighters and first responders, was crowded but orderly. As many as 225 Bluebonnet employees and con-tractors were inspecting and cutting burned trees, removing and replacing poles, stringing wires, installing transformers and making the work zone safe. Power was restored quickly because of Bluebonnet’s advanced technology, Fritsche said. Crews evaluated what needed to be done, entered the information into their laptops, or-dered materials — poles, transformers, and wire — and had them delivered. In a few hours, each individual job was finished. Bluebonnet’s Member Service Center in Bastrop remained open Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18, to answer questions and help members displaced by the fire. Power was fully restored at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, but Rose knew co-op members would still need help. So Bluebonnet created a team led by co-op project manager Tommy Higgins to reach out to members whose homes and property were damaged and let them know how Bluebon-net would help. Higgins lost his home in the 2011 fires and knew what the members whose lives had been upended by the fire were going through, the questions they would have and what they’d need. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, one week after Rose learned about a small pasture fire, the control center at headquarters was re-opened. Rose an-nounced that Bluebonnet would donate $50,000 to the Bastrop Long Term Recovery Team, a nonprofit that helps uninsured or underinsured Bastrop County residents who suffer loss in disasters. Storms and remnants of a record-setting Pacific hurricane soaked Bastrop County a few days later. The Hidden Pines fire was declared contained on Sunday, Oct. 25. Sixty-four homes and 4,582 acres burned, but there were no deaths.

nnn

Rose praised his team publicly and privately. The leadership of Bastrop County officials — County Judge Paul Pape, Sheriff Terry Picker-ing, Commissioner Clara Beckett, Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Fisher and state Rep. John Cyrier — was “outstanding,” he said. Driving into the burn zone, Rose wasn’t surprised by what he saw. He had spent weeks in the massive Bastrop County Complex fire zone in 2011. “But this wasn’t the story of 2011,” he said. “That was so big and so hot and devastating that firefighters didn’t have the ability to fight it. It burned through and they came in behind and did the best to fight it on the edges. They fought this (Hidden Pines) fire driving down streets and among broken trees. “I saw smoldering embers and sparks and I’m thinking, ‘Men and women came in here at night and fought this fire.’ It was unbelievable.

Continued from page 22B

bluebonnet.coop24 Texas Co-op Power BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE December 2015

HIDDEN PINES FIRE BY THE NUMBERSLocation: Bastrop County, near Smithville

4,582 Acres burned

440+ Fire-related power outages

263 Local, state and federal firefighters

6 Blackhawk helicopters

2 Chinook helicopters

2 Other helicopters — one from Travis County Star Flight, another from the Department of Public Safety

4 Single engine air tankers

2 Large air tankers

Duration: Oct. 13-Oct. 25 (contained), Oct. 28 (controlled), 2015

Restoration: All power restored by Oct. 19, 2015

1 DC-10 (VLAT or very large air tanker)

41 Fire trucks

64 Homes destroyed

113 Homes saved within the fire footprint

225 Bluebonnet employees and contractors in the field

66 Miles of lines in fire zone

45 Power poles replaced

1,957 Burned and hazardous trees tagged by Bluebonnet

Earl Nottingham photo/Texas Parks & Wildlife

I already had a healthy appreciation for what firefighters do, but in that situation I just don’t have any words for it. I heard so many people ask, ‘Who the hell does that?’ “I saw what those men and women do and the phenomenal courage to be there saving peoples’ homes in woods that are burning at night with smoke all around them. “So our work is important and it has an ele-ment of danger to it — especially with falling trees and energizing lines — but firefighters are the real heroes in this story.” n

LEFT: With the guidance of arborists, crews place orange tags on burned trees that are deemed a safety hazard and need to be removed. After the fire, teams marked more than 1,900 damaged trees for removal.

ABOVE: A DC-10, the largest of all firefighting aircraft, drops flame retardant on the Hidden Pines Fire to help contain the blaze.

The “Lights of Tejas” display has been lighting up the faces of thousands of holiday visitors since 2010. The light show at Tejas, a Christian retreat and summer camp seven miles south of Giddings, is open only on certain days Nov.

27 through Dec. 29. It showcases more than 1 million lights, both outdoors and as part of an indoor light show that celebrates the Nativity story and the joys of Christmas.

Visit camptejas.org/lot or call 979-366-2422 for directions and information about the schedule, admission prices, overnight accommodations, dining options and activities, including games, hayrides, zip lines and cupcake and ornament decorating.

— Ed Crowell

COUNTING UP THE LIGHTS OF TEJAS

1.2 million Bulbs in 2015

300,000 Bulbs in 2010,

the first year

12,887 Attendance in 2014

4,200 Cupcakes decorated by visitors

for the birthday party for Jesus

2,100 Hours needed to set up lights

800 Tree ornaments decorated

by visitors

607 Meals served in dining hall in 2014

28 Acres covered by walkways,

lights and activities

35 Average number of volunteers

who work each night

A couple holds hands under the warm winter glow at Tejas near Giddings, where more than 1 million lights make the holidays bright.

Co-op board seats up for election in 2016Bluebonnet members interested in serv-

ing on the co-op’s Board of Directors can run for one of four seats up for

election during the Annual Meeting on May 10. Candidates, who would represent one of seven districts, can be nominated either by presenting an application for nomination with at least 50 signatures from co-op members in their respective districts or by paying a $250 filing fee in certified funds. Bluebonnet’s Board is made up of 11 direc-tors who serve staggered three-year terms. The four seats up for election in 2016 represent District 1, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Gonzales and Hays counties; District 3, Bastrop County; District 5, Burleson County; and District 7, Washington County. To run for the Board, candidates must be at least 21 years old, a co-op member in good standing, agree to a background check and meet other qualifications outlined in Bluebon-net’s bylaws, which are available at bluebon-net.coop. Hover your cursor over the “About” tab on the home page, click on “Leadership” in the drop down bar and then click on the “Becoming a Director” link.

Application for nomination forms are avail-able at the co-op’s member service centers in Bastrop, Brenham, Giddings, Lockhart and Manor and online at bluebonnet.coop, under the “About” tab and then “Reports & Forms” in the drop down bar.

All candidates’ petitions, filing fees and ap-plication for nomination forms must be submit-ted at any Bluebonnet member service center by 4 p.m. Feb. 10. For more information, call a member service representative at 800-842-7708.

Sarah Beal photo

Jay Godwin photo

1,389 Trees removed by Bluebonnet as of Nov. 8, 2015

Sources: Texas A&M Forest Service, Bluebonnet, Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management

Page 5: Within a span of - Cooperative.com“It was about 1,000 feet away and headed in the opposite direction,” Fritsche remem-bers. But a weather front blew in on Wednesday. “The wind

#403Spotlight on Excellence Entry FormNRECA Voting Member Classification * Distribution Cooperative: 50,001-90,000 meters

Category * 1. Best News Story

Entry Title * Fire & Floods

I wish to receive Judges' comments onthis entry

No

Contact's Name * Melissa Segrest

Cooperative * Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative

Mailing Address P.O. Box 729 Bastrop, TX 78602 United States

Contact's Email * [email protected]

Contact's Phone Number * (512) 415-8595

Name of entrant as it should appear onthe award (if given)

Janet Wilson, Senior Communications Specialist, Bluebonnet ElectricCooperative

Page 6: Within a span of - Cooperative.com“It was about 1,000 feet away and headed in the opposite direction,” Fritsche remem-bers. But a weather front blew in on Wednesday. “The wind

Is this the first time you've entered theSpotlight competition?

No

Entrant's Email [email protected]

Names of others (freelancers ororganizations) involved in the project, ifapplicable

Contractor Joe Stafford designed the Texas Co-op Power magazinepages that featured the news story.

Describe your/the co-op's role in the project *

In 2015, Bluebonnet’s members endured two deadly floods and one devastating fire that caused days of widespreaddestruction and extended power outages. This story, by Bluebonnet Communications Specialist Janet Wilson, is avivid reconstruction of one of the disasters – the Hidden Pines fire of October – as seen through the eyes of two keyfigures in the co-op, General Manager Mark Rose and veteran lineman Daniel Fritsche. From the moment smoke wasspotted on the horizon until much-needed rains doused the last flames 14 days later, the story details co-opleaders’ decisions during a fast-moving disaster and describes the dangerous work on the ground for fieldoperations teams. In the back of every employee’s mind: 2011 and the most destructive wildfire in Texas history,which scorched more than 34,000 acres in Bluebonnet territory. The lessons Bluebonnet learned from that tragedyallowed employees to make decisions quickly and understand the effort of all employees when restoring power, evenwhen the ground is still smoking. Wilson also interviewed other executives, linemen, field personnel, firefighters,forest service experts and members impacted by the fire. This story appeared in the December 2015 issue of TexasCo-op Power magazine. Staff photographer Sarah Beal’s photos from the fires illustrated the story. Marketing andCommunications Manager Melissa Segrest edited the story.

Describe others’ role in the project(Reference outside sources of material,including templates; pre-existing Webtools and apps; information from outsidegroups, such as Straight Talk orTouchstone Energy; stock photos andmusic, etc.) *

The Texas A&M Forest Service and M.D. Anderson Cancer Centerprovided facts; local photographer Cynthia Ludwig provided an aerialfire photo; the Austin American-Statesman newspaper permittedreprinting a map of the fire and power restoration zones.

Circulation or Number of People Reached * Bluebonnet’s 65,000+ members read the story in Bluebonnet’s pagesin Texas Co-op Power magazine, and they, as well as thousands ofmembers of the general public, read it via links on social media andthe co-op’s website, bluebonnet.coop.

Number of Attendees *

Project’s Budget * $1,000 to design the magazine pages. The story was written andedited by Bluebonnet staffers; the freelance photo was provided freeof charge.

Target Audience(s) * Members, employees, public.

Project's Objective *

To explain how lessons learned from the state’s most destructive wildfire four years earlier helped the co-op respondquickly, effectively and efficiently to the unpredictable dangers of a spreading wildfire; to provide readers with adetailed account of the long days and nights that staff and crews worked in response to the blaze; to tell the storyfrom the perspective of two very different Bluebonnet employees – the CEO and the experienced lineman; to givereaders a succinct and detailed report on the toll of the fire. The story showed how Bluebonnet’s EmergencyResponse Plan works, as well.

Restrictions/Limitations * Deadlines were pushed to the limit. Staff had already completed the

Page 7: Within a span of - Cooperative.com“It was about 1,000 feet away and headed in the opposite direction,” Fritsche remem-bers. But a weather front blew in on Wednesday. “The wind

December issue of the magazine, but shelved it and replaced it withthe quickly constructed fire package. Staffers worked around theclock, sometimes because those who needed to be interviewed for thestory were still in the field restoring power and fighting the fire.

Describe why you chose this type of socialmedia and how you used it *

Provide a brief summary that states thepurpose of the event, how the programwas implemented, and results and howthey were measured *

Provide a brief summary that states thepurpose, how the program wasimplemented, and results and how theywere measured using the RACEframework. Each component has its ownword limit noted below.

Research *

Action *

Communication *

Evaluation *

Upload Supporting Materials File #1 bec_dec_mag_fire_only.pdf4.49 MB · PDF

Upload Supporting Materials File #2 2016_spotlight_news_story_fires_for_lisa.docx37.84 KB · DOCX

Supporting Materials Link

Special Instructions

Created20 Nov 2015

10:15:21 AM

PUBLIC

99.17.195.11IP Address

Updated20 Nov 2015

8:37:55 PM

CAROL CRABTREE - PERSONAL

1 Comment

Carol Crabtree · 16:33 on 17 Dec 2015REVIEWED 12/17/15-KAC