Community Wildfire Preparedness Day Presentation May 7th

Park County Wildland Fire Forum
May 7, 2016
69 in attendance

Begin with short video

@2:28 Introductions

@4:13 Our Risk
When the trees are farther apart, the fire tends to stay on the ground rather than get into the crowns of the trees.

@17:20 High Ignition Risk
High Population Density
Proximity to Roads
Natural Factors:
Lightning - we have one of the highest lightning incident rates in the country
Drought

Depending on the location, a major wildfire event may also destroy enough infrastructure to cause a multiple week loss of power and phone service.

@26:05 What's Next? What Can We Do?
Joe Burgett - What does the Smoky the Bear sign mean in the district, how frequently are they updated? What do the various levels mean?

Three programs for you:
CodeRED
Ready, Set, Go
Firewise Community

Explanation of Level 1, 2, & 3 Notifications
Colorado is not a mandatory evacuation state, except for anyone under the age of 18. Firefighters can call deputies to assist with evacuation, parents can stay or go with their kids.

How many of your children have signed up for CodeRED? Are they staying home alone? They should be receiving notifications, especially if parents work downtown 30-60 minutes away.
Sign up for CodeRED over the phone
719-836-4115

@37:30 Platte Canyon School District
Dr. Brenda Krage
Updated school emergency plan after Dr. Krage started
What happens with your kids in case of a wildfire?
Kids at school
Kids in transit
Kids at home

Encourages parents to have a plan for home

@43:42 Ready, Set, Go
Question about trees along CR 43 that need to be cut back/mitigated. North Park Fire Safety Council met with County Commissioners a few weeks back about this issue in particular among others.

@47:50 *10 minute break*

@48:15 BOERA
John Gerritsen, Phil Eisele
Check for Jeff Davis Foundation

@51:45 Ready, Set, Go video

@56:30 Ready, Set, Go
Joe Burgett
Defensible Space
Zone 1: 0-30'
No trees. Can work with homeowner, modify plan. Can include aspens, or one tree counted as part of home and zone 1 30' starts at that tree
Zone 2: 30-100'
Break up continuity of fuels. Put 8-10' s
Mpacing around tree
Zone 3: 100-200'

www.wildlandfireRSG.org

@1:06:05 Questions
How to prepare for evacuation

@1:16:30 Firewise Community
A Firewise Community is a group of neighbors

What are the benefits of being a Firewise Community?
Helps to build community
Improves resale value
Puts your subdivision in a better triage position
Improved stability and in some cases reduced rates
www.firewise.org/usa/

@1:21:25 Carrie Marsh Insurance

@1:22:55 North Park County Fire Safe Council
Harris Park Fuels Management Project

Video recorded by, and property of My Mountain Town
All Rights Reserved

There was a lot of good info presented at the Park County Wildfire Preparedness Forum, including a very telling picture of what the landscape looked like in 3 different pictures spanning about 100 years. The growth is impressive and clearly shows why we need to be aggressively mitigating.

Some really cool things we learned: Platte Canyon School District is completing an update of it's emergency evacuation protocols. They've calculated that they need ~6 buses to get all of the students out at once from PCSH, Fitzsimmons, and Deer Creek Elem, and they only had 4 certified drivers. Teachers at the school are stepping up and becoming certified so they can be backup drivers if ever needed.

CR43 is a problem. There is so much growth close to the road that if a fire were to go through, it could easily block passageway in and out. There needs to be extensive mitigation done to remove trees and bushes from near the road so it's not so narrow an escape route if flames are already present. There is no other way out if 43 becomes blocked, there is a privately owned drive that is blocked by a padlocked gate; PCFPD has been trying for years to receive permission to access that drive in the event of an emergency and to date have not gotten permission.

Joe Burgett of Platte Canyon Fire Protection District went over a topic many of us don't consider - what to do about your middle-school age kids who are old enough to stay home in the summer while you go down to the city to work. If there's an evacuation, you might not have 30-60min to get home to evacuate them - do you have a plan in place with them and with neighbors so they understand to go to that neighbors house to evacuate and where to meet up after, or do your kids understand that if it means their life they have permission to get in a spare vehicle and drive themselves out as a last resort and do they know how to get to the Loaf N Jug so first responders can help them? Do you have your kids signed up with CodeRED so that they receive the emergency alerts on their own mobile devices? If not, make sure to do that as well!

In addition, did you know Colorado is not a mandatory evacuation state, except for anyone under the age of 18? If there is a minor in the home, firefighters can call deputies to assist with evacuation, parents can choose to stay or go with their kids.

Do you remember the power outage we had a little while back where a main transformer station went down and it was hours before power was restored? In the event of a big fire, they might turn the power off to an entire area to keep the firefighters safe, or infrastructure might get burned up and it's weeks before power is back. Do you have a plan for that? If you have medical equipment that requires power, a generator will get you by for some time, but not indefinitely.

Please watch this video, and the Evergreen Wildland Fire Forum one - they have a TON of great info. Yes, one is over an hour and the other 2 hours long. Many of us sat through them as they were presented; you have the option of watching it at your leisure in chunks. Start with the portions of the videos that contain clips about the Waldo Canyon Fire and the PSA from Ready, Set, Go. The Park County video has everything time stamped, the Evergreen Fire Forum is easy to see when there's a new speaker if you fast forward (the Waldo Canyon video is at the very beginning of that one).

Thank you for helping keep yourself, your neighbors, our lands, and our community safer by mitigating, signing up for alerts, and following evacuation notices when released!