Copyright 2006 Denver Publishing Company
By JERD SMITH
Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Just 18 Colorado communities, including fire districts and homeowner associations, have completed the wildfire protection plans that federal and state fire agencies have been pushing since the disastrous Western fire season of 2002.
At least 52 others are in the processing of drafting plans, but that likely leaves dozens, if not hundreds, of communities with no formal plan in place, according to a new Colorado State Forest Service database.
As Colorado faces what could be another dangerous summer for wildfires, officials say having a game plan is essential.
“It’s critically important that communities have them,” said Paul Cooke, director of the state’s Division of Fire Safety, “especially in the red zone.”
Cooke was referring to areas such as the Front Range foothills, where communities have developed next to and, in some cases, within national and state forests - prime wildfire territory. An estimated 1 million Coloradans live in these areas, according to the Colorado State Forest Service.
Part of the problem may be lack of paid fire personnel.
“You can’t really fault fire districts for not having them because so many of our districts are volunteer,” Cooke said. “It’s difficult to create a plan when you don’t have staff.”
First called for under the 2003 federal Healthy Forest Restoration Act, completed plans qualify homeowner associations and fire districts for grants to remove slash piles and thin timber stands — the fuels that allow small fires to explode into catastrophic events.
More important, fire officials say, the plans allow communities to better protect themselves, plotting evacuation routes and notification plans, especially in increasingly populated mountain regions, where homes are often difficult to reach.
Glenwood Springs was one of the first communities in Colorado to write and put into action a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. As a result, firefighters there know where the highest risk areas are, what needs to be done to cut the risk, how to evacuate residents from the canyons that surround the town, and who needs to be involved to battle the blaze should a wildfire strike.
That’s because Glenwood Springs Fire Chief Mike Piper has seen fires roar into town all too often.
In 2002, when the Coal Seam Fire blackened the canyons just west of the scenic tourist haven and thick gray smoke clouds roiled over Main Street, Glenwood was thrust into the national disaster limelight.
“It’s a terrible thing to make the national news when you’re from a little place like this,” Piper said.
That fire and the tragic Storm King Fire of 1994 that killed 14 firefighters have left Piper and other Glenwood firefighters intent on making the town and outlying areas as fireproof as possible.
Communities such as Glenwood are at the forefront of a movement across the West to become wiser about wildfires, said Don Artley, the Boise, Idaho-based fire director for the National Association of State Foresters.
“Communities that are aggressively working on plans are probably safer than their neighbors,” said Artley. “But in the West we have this tension between private property rights and the community good. Plans to make homes more fire-safe are not popular. People need to understand that when we say we need defensible space around homes (no slash, no wood piles, no untrimmed trees), we’re not talking about laying asphalt.”
According to the state’s database, four “red zone” counties are taking the lead on crafting community-based protection plans: Larimer, Boulder, Grand and Summit. Each has several fire districts and homeowner associations that have plans either completed or in the works.
“This kind of planning is still in its infancy,” said Rich Homann, director of fire management for the Colorado State Forest Service. “Their value lies in identifying the risks and investing in measures that will decrease the risk of fires.”
For Glenwood, that means no outside burning from May 1 through Nov. 1, a rule the fire chief began enacting each spring after 2002. It allows him to sleep better at night, even though it doesn’t always sit well with homeowners.
“We’re four years past the Coal Seam fire,” Piper said. “To a lot of folks here, that’s ancient history.”
But it’s painfully fresh to Piper and his firefighters and gives them plenty of motivation to keep polishing their wildfire response plan.
“The plan is only as good as your ability to go out and do something with it,” he said.
What to do
If you live in a fire-prone urban-wildland interface area, you need defensible space around your house.
* Defensible space: A 30-foot (or wider) buffer zone around a home that’s free of features that increase the risk of the home being destroyed in a wildfire.
To protect your house:
* Thin tree and brush cover.
* Dispose of slash and debris.
* Remove dead limbs and leaves.
* Stack firewood away from structures.
* Maintain irrigated green belt around the home.
* Mow dry grasses and weeds.
* Prune branches to 10 feet above ground.
* Trim branches.
* Clean roof and gutters.
* Reduce density of surrounding forest.
* Other suggestions include improving driveway access and water supplies, having a fire-resistant roof, and enclosing overhanging eaves and decks.
Source: Colorado Division Of Emergency Management