Gaby Zastrocky
High Timber Times
CONFIER, Colo. — With data indicating that 2013 could be an even worse fire year than 2012, foothills residents need to get prepared as soon as possible, according to a state fire official.
“We are still in the grip of a severe drought in Colorado,” said Dana Reynolds, director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety’s Office of Preparedness. Reynolds spoke at a Feb. 19 Conifer Town Hall meeting.
“There’s reason for alarm,” he said.
Local and state governments have been taking steps to prepare for the 2013 season:
• Mountain area fire chiefs have been working together to improve communication across jurisdictions.
• A new emergency notification system recently was tested, and it was about 74 percent successful, which has been touted as a solid score by industry standards.
• Various bills have been introduced in the state legislature, several of which came from the Lower North Fork Fire Commission.
“We’re much better prepared,” Reynolds said. “We did a lot last year to try to enhance our (defenses).”
But none of these steps is an end-all solution, Reynolds said. Mountain area residents need to take personal responsibility for preparing themselves and their homes for the worst.
“No system is fail-proof,” he said. “Conifer needs to be prepared, first and foremost.”
Home preparation
The recommendations are not new, but Reynolds said they should not be put off.
Area residents need to create a defensible space around their homes. Elk Creek Fire Chief Bill McLaughlin said the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office again will host three slash-burning events this summer. While a Conifer slash burn likely will be at Conifer High School on June 15 and 16, the dates and locations of all the sites have not been finalized.
Residents should also prepare their homes by using fire-resistant building materials and keeping woodpiles away from homes. Area fire departments including Elk Creek and Inter-Canyon Fire/Rescue will inspect and assess homes for fire safety at no charge.
A crucial and often-neglected step to prepare for wildfires is interaction among neighbors, Reynolds said. Residents should get to know their neighbors, since responders can take hours to reach affected areas.
“The best time for us to begin exchanging business cards is not after a disaster,” he said. “We need to have these relationships in place.”
Families should always have emergency plans in place, including how members will communicate if cell towers are knocked out, where they will meet during an evacuation, how they’ll get there, and what belongings they should take.
After the Lower North Fork Fire, many area residents found they didn’t have recent and accurate inventories of their belongings. Conifer Town Council member Shirley Johnson reminded audience members at the meeting that the time to inventory and document possessions is now.
“We’re in the middle of a drought,” she emphasized. “It’s pretty scary.”
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