When the grass started growing behind Frank and Bera Calvert's home last year, they began to worry. They knew their home on Tiger Trail, west of Benbrook Lake, was vulnerable to wildfires.

Just behind their back yard is a 1,200-acre ranch where the grass has grown unusually tall from last year's rains.

"If a grass fire starts behind my home, my house would be gone before the first firetrucks could get here," Frank Calvert said. "It might cut off my only way out of here or prevent the firetrucks from getting here. It's not a good situation at all."

But the Calverts' concerns about fire have been complicated by a now-familiar activity across Tarrant County: natural gas drilling.

On that neighboring ranch, a drilling rig and a stream of trucks are skirting the edge of the Calverts' neighborhood.

Last week, a car was run off into a ditch, and in July a truck broke down, blocking the only route into the neighborhood for several hours, according to residents.

"It's like we're powerless," said F.D. Kisor, treasurer of the Benbrook Lake Shore Neighborhood Association. "We have no rights, and it seems like everyone we contact will bend over backwards for the gas well providers. It just doesn't seem right."

The neighborhood's efforts to reach the ranch's owner, Helen Groves, have been unsuccessful. Several letters addressed to Groves were answered by a Fort Worth law firm, telling residents to deal with the drilling company, EnCana Oil & Gas.

Fort Worth attorney William Bredthauer, who wrote letters to residents on behalf of Groves, said he wouldn't discuss the matter.

Drilling site access

Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks says he has been inundated with drilling issues in his precinct. But he said the problem in the Calverts' rural subdivision is particularly vexing.

"It has been a frustrating situation for everybody involved," Brooks said. "I understand the residents' frustrations and concerns for their safety. Unfortunately, the Legislature has not given us the authority to control access for that road. And allowing those trucks to access the ranch off of [U.S.] 377 requires the permission of the property owner."

Brooks has also been unable to reach Groves, whose residence is listed in San Antonio, according to Tarrant Appraisal District records.

"We are talking to the representatives of the property," Brooks said. "So far we don't have an agreement."

Deborah West, a spokeswoman for EnCana Oil & Gas, said drilling activity along Tiger Trail is expected to continue until fall. The company selected that entrance after negotiating with the landowner and determining that another entry on the other side of the ranch would affect even more homes.

In the future, other drilling sites on the ranch are expected to be reached through other entrances. West said the company plans to form a committee that includes Brooks' office and neighborhood residents. They hope to meet within two months, West said.

But the ranch foreman, Bob Joy, said that truck access from U.S. 377 could also cause problems.

"I think it's more of a danger out on the highway," Joy said. "We're trying to get along with everybody."

Joy said he has placed a firebreak along the edge of the ranch, which should address fire concerns. He also plans to start grazing cattle on land near the homes.

"There hasn't been any talk about mowing it. I hope to have 300 head to go in there and start feeding on it," Joy said.

Evacuation plan

The Texas Forest Service met with neighborhood residents in the fall and helped devise a wildfire evacuation plan.

In an emergency, residents can get out through a gate onto U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land that borders Benbrook Lake. But residents worry that during a fast-moving wildfire they may not have time to escape.

Nick Harrison, a Forest Service regional fire coordinator, said the wildfire threat on Tiger Trail is typical of many areas of North Texas. Even without drilling, it would be a concern.

"They still have a potential to have a fire get in there and burn," Harrison said. "You can just drive out there and see how tall the grass is."

Harrison said a firebreak around the border of the ranch will help protect residents, unless it is a major fire.

"That blade line will slow that down, but if there's a lot of wind sparking embers, the fire can jump across that blade line," he said. "If there's a lot of wind, it can jump a highway."

The fire threat affects areas all over Texas where residents have moved into what was once rural land.

"The I-35 corridor is moving," Harrison said. "In North Texas, out to the west around Abilene and in the Austin-San Antonio area, you've got urban sprawl. The population is moving out. People who move out into these areas need to be more vigilant."