Work is part of the Boulder County Wildfire Partners pilot program Youth Helping Underserved Individuals and Communities

Boulder County, Colo. - When the Marshall Fire started just east of the Sans Souci Mobile Home Park community many homes experienced devastating damage from the straight-line wind event. Although not impacted directly by the fire, countless residents were left anxious of a similar event occurring.

Last week, Mile High Youth Corps (MHYC) began providing critical wildfire mitigation services in Sans Souci Mobile Home Park. Their work is part of the Boulder County Wildfire Partners pilot program Youth Helping Underserved Individuals and Communities.

As a resident owned community, homeowners would normally incur the costs of park maintenance, including these services. This program ensures that the services are provided free of cost for residents struggling to make ends meet and still rebuilding from the Marshall Fire and straight-line wind event of Dec. 30, 2021.

MHYC are the second conservation corps to work in Sans Souci as part of a contract with Wildfire Partners. In June, crews from TEENS, Inc. provided a week of vegetation management services on communal property, including juniper removal, raking, and weed whacking. MHYC is building on this work, providing services to individual homes, including limbing and pruning small trees, debris disposal, and constructing noncombustible gravel barriers, helping to protect homes from embers during another grass fire.

Ellie Stanton, Wildfire Partners Youth Program Specialist said, “Before we began working in Sans Souci, it was important to us [Wildfire Partners] that we create a strong, lasting relationship with the community. Along with our bilingual outreach specialist, Olimpia Mejia, we spent at least a hundred hours knocking on doors, speaking with homeowners, and building trust within the community.”

“Without Mile High Youth Corps and TEENS Inc., we would not be able to perform these wildfire mitigation services,” said Peggy Kuhn, a Sans Souci resident. “Our park has 85 plus residents, half of these seniors, and some homes still have roofs made with tarp and held down with straps. We love our natural views, but it also makes us nervous because the grassland next to the community puts us at higher risk of a wildfire.”

Wildfire Partners has partnered with the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks and Boulder Watershed Collective to extend the project’s impact and create a model for future work in mobile home parks. For more information, contact Youth Programs Specialist Ellie Stanton at estanton@bouldercounty.gov or 720-564-2645.

Mile High Youth Corps members are providing wildfire mitigation services in Sans Souci Mobile Home Park. Their work is part of the Boulder County Wildfire Partners pilot program Youth Helping Underserved Individuals and Communities.