Lakewood’s Michelle Polasek and John Harris received signs designating Lakewood a Firewise community. Fire prevention and evacuation routes in wooded neighborhoods get renewed focus around Austin.

Neighborhood volunteers from across the area met Nov. 20 at the Lakewood Clubhouse to hear updates from Fire Department wildfire experts and others. The Fire Department’s wildfire division reported completing more than 500 property safety reviews out of 833 requests this year, all of them in Northwest Austin.

Fire Department wildlife personnel at the meeting recognized Lakewood as a participating site in Firewise USA, a nationwide designation for communities working to reduce wildfire risks. Firewise USA earlier this year conducted a community risk assessment of Lakewood. Travis County now has 27 active Firewise communities.

The Austin American-Statesman on Nov. 18 reported on the challenges of one-way-in, one-way out neighborhoods.