Shenandoah, TX Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Unlike California, Texas has no statutory wildland-urban interface (WUI) map forcing defensible space, and Texas counties (including Montgomery County) have no general zoning or fire-code authority in unincorporated areas under HB 2127 and the limited police powers of Local Government Code Chapters 232-234. What Montgomery County can and does do is issue burn bans under Local Government Code Sec. 352.081 when the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) is high, prohibiting outdoor burning countywide; violating an active burn ban is a Class C misdemeanor up to $500. The Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) provides the county's primary wildfire risk mapping through the Texas Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal (TxWRAP) and promotes voluntary Firewise USA community standards: 0-5 ft noncombustible zone, 5-30 ft lean/clean/green, 30-100 ft reduced fuel. The City of Conroe enforces the International Fire Code (currently IFC 2021) through its Fire Marshal's Office, which addresses combustible vegetation under IFC Sec. 304 (tall weeds/debris removal) but not formal defensible-space zones. The Woodlands Township partners with The Woodlands Fire Department and has achieved Firewise USA status in several villages; homeowners are encouraged (not required) to use Class A roofing, ember-resistant vents, and maintain clearance around structures. Insurance carriers in the Piney Woods increasingly require wildfire mitigation questionnaires. Post-Harvey (2017) and the 2011 Riley Road Fire (which burned 19,000+ acres in Magnolia/Waller County area), the county upgraded mutual-aid response but still has no mandatory vegetation management ordinance for unincorporated lots.