Boulder County will soon begin offering wildfire mitigation assessments to residents in the eastern portion of unincorporated Boulder County as part of a pilot project that will provide people with customized reports on how to stay safe and mitigate fires.
“For the last 30 years, Boulder County has been actively working with western Boulder County to reduce wildfire risk, and we have not been working with residents in the eastern portion of the county,” said Jim Webster, program manager with Boulder County Wildfire Partners. “It is a new endeavor, but a very important one.”
Eight years ago, Boulder County partnered with the federal government along with fire protection districts, academic institutions, businesses and community groups to create Wildfire Partners. The program offers free home assessments to residents in Boulder County’s foothills to teach them about wildfire mitigation and prevention. So far, it has evaluated about 3,000 single-family homes in the western portion of unincorporated Boulder County, Webster said.
The county is now expanding its work as part of a new pilot project to provide 100 free assessments for homeowners in the eastern portion of the county, which consists of plains and grasslands.
Each resident who participates in the project will receive a free on-site, home assessment to learn how to harden their structures and create defensible space to reduce potential ignition of their homes. They will receive a customized report that includes a checklist of items to mitigate, photos showing areas of their home that are vulnerable to fire and important information about wildfire mitigation and preparedness.
“Now is the time for members of our community to take action and prepare for climate-driven wildfires,” said Mark Udall, Wildfire Partner participant and former U.S. Senator from Colorado, in a Boulder County news release. “During May Wildfire Awareness Month, I encourage all eligible homeowners to sign up for the Wildfire Partners Plains Pilot Project and work to reduce their wildfire risk.”
Applicants must live in unincorporated Boulder County to participate in the project. Residents in the incorporated areas of Boulder, Erie, Lafayette, Longmont, Louisville and Superior are not eligible at this time.
The deadline to apply for the pilot project is June 30. Applications can be completed at WildfirePartners.org.
Webster said the county will begin to meet with residents to evaluate their homes from July through October.
“We are testing whether or not there is interest,” Webster said. “Education, mitigation and ongoing maintenance are so important.”
Webster said the project also goes hand in hand with the county’s recently approved exterior building requirements, which mandates that that all future exterior structures built in Wildfire Zone Two comply with the county’s ignition-resistant standards. This zone makes up the eastern portion of unincorporated Boulder County.
“Unfortunately, the Marshall Fire dramatically illustrated that we are in a new reality of risk from wildfire in eastern Boulder County,” said Boulder County Commissioner Matt Jones, in the news release. “I encourage unincorporated Boulder County residents to participate in the award-winning Wildfire Partners program whether you suffered a loss during the Marshall Fire or not. Wildfire Partners is great at making suggestions for your home to improve its chance in a wildfire.”
