Today’s newsletter covers the following:
- Maintenance: A Call to Action
- Sugarloaf Community Meeting
- Aerial Photo of Wildfire Mitigation Success in the Cold Springs Fire
- Working with Neighbors
Please forward this newsletter to individuals, groups and organizations you know who may be interested.
Tip of the Day: Maintaining Your Mitigation—A Call to Action
Trees, grasses, weeds, and shrubs all grow, and trees drop needles and pinecones. If you have performed wildfire mitigation, it is essential that you maintain it on a regular basis! You can find a mitigation quick checklist at: bouldercounty.gov/doc/landuse/wildfiremitigationquickchecklist.pdf. If you have not performed mitigation, now is a great time to start.
If you have any questions about mitigation, please contact us at Boulder County Land Use Department,
303-441-3930, WildfireMitigation@bouldercounty.org.
Sugarloaf Community Meeting on Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation
The Sugarloaf Fire Protection District, Wildfire Partners, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, and Sugarloafers Against Wildfires (SAWS) will hold a community meeting for district residents at Station 2, 1360 Sugarloaf Road, on Thursday, August 18 from 7-9 p.m. With the recent Cold Springs Fire, many residents have questions about what they should do to prepare for future wildfires.
If your neighborhood or community is interested in hosting a meeting about wildfire preparedness and mitigation, please contact Jim Webster at jbwebster@bouldercounty.org.
Aerial Photo of Wildfire Mitigation Success in the Cold Springs Fire
Lester Karplus credits the wildfire mitigation work he did, with guidance from Wildfire Partners, in helping firefighters save his home during the Cold Springs Fire. On Lester’s property, the fire came dangerously close to all of his buildings, yet none burned. Stay tuned to the newsletter for more updates on Lester's story.
Working with Neighbors
If
you are a regular reader of the Boulder County Wildfire Mitigation and
Forest Health Newsletter, you understand the critical role mitigation
plays in reducing wildfire risk and creating resilient communities. We
thank you for everything you have done! We, however, need to recruit
many more residents to follow in your footsteps. As the Cold Springs
Fire and countless other wildfires have shown us, the greater the number
of properly mitigated properties we have—the safer and more successful
firefighters are at saving homes.
We
often get the question: How can I get my neighbors to join Wildfire
Partners and effectively mitigate their homes? Many of you have already
signed up some of your neighbors or tried unsuccessfully to encourage
them to join. You are our early adopters, community leaders, and
ambassadors for mitigation. You are our most effective resource for
spreading mitigation from property to property. As a result, we are
available to support you reaching out to your neighbors in any way we
can.
If
your neighbor has a specific question or concern about Wildfire
Partners, we can answer it. Have them call us at 303-441-3930 or visit
our website at www.WildfirePartners.org.
If you have already talked to them, try again. If you have not talked
to them because you assumed they would not be interested, give it a try
now. The Cold Springs Fire has been a wake-up call for many. We are
seeing people change their attitudes about mitigation daily. In
addition, a Wildfire Partners Mitigation Specialist is available to meet
with you and a small group of your neighbors on site to answer
questions about the program and encourage everyone to join together. We
also have the Wildfire Partners Tour of Homes (more information will be
available shortly) and Wildfire Partners Community Chipping Events (see
our June newsletter for details).
Neighbors
talking with and working with neighbors is a central message and core
value of Wildfire Partners. Connections between neighbors are critical
for mitigation and serve as the foundation for a resilient community
Cheers,
Rick, Kyle, Chris and Jim
Boulder County Land Use Department
303-441-3930
WildfireMitigation@bouldercounty.org
