Fires, Floods, Snow extremes
Breaking news about Wild Land Fires & Floods and snow storms in the Boulder, Colorado area.
County seeking input for Community Wildfire Protection Plan
Dec 1st
Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County is in the process of developing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan to help mitigate the impact of future wildfires. The plan will contain recommendations for policies, programs, and other actions to reduce the negative effects of wildfires.
The county and its partners are seeking resident input in the form of recommendations to be included in the CWPP and volunteers to serve on the CWPP Advisory Team.
“This is an excellent opportunity for community members who want to make a difference in the aftermath of the Fourmile Canyon Fire,” said Brett Haberstick, Sunshine Fire Protection District Chief and CWPP team member. “Being involved in groups like the CWPP Advisory Team can translate into fewer homes lost and more lives saved during the next fire.”
Recommendations
Guidelines and a submission form are available online. “County residents have many good ideas for how best to protect their community,” said Jim Webster, Community Wildfire Protection Planner in the Boulder County Land Use Department. “We want the plan to include new, original ideas from residents.”
Advisory Team
The team will collect and prioritize the recommendations that are submitted. “In order to be successful, our planning process needs to engage a large number of residents,” Webster said. “Many people would like to serve on a board or committee, but they have never been asked. We are asking interested residents to volunteer for this effort and help their community.”
Members of the advisory team must attend four Wednesday night meetings and complete clearly defined “homework” assignments over a four-month period. More information and application instructions are also available online. No previous wildfire experience is required.
Recommendations and advisory team applications will be accepted until Jan. 12.
SOURCE: BOULDER COUNTY PRESS RELEASE
County creates Fourmile Canyon Fire recovery center Sanfaçon assigned to head up team for fire-related recovery needs and requests
Nov 15th
Boulder County, Colo. – The Boulder County Commissioners have established a new Fourmile Canyon Fire recovery center to provide continued support to residents who lost a home or a structure in the September wildfire.
The recovery center will focus on serving residents with questions and issues around rebuilding, debris removal, erosion control, revegetation, transportation (roads and potential flooding), wildfire mitigation, and others as they arise. It will be staffed by a single point of contact to help coordinate rebuilding efforts, but can also refer clients to other services as needed.
“In all of our meetings and discussions with county residents in the Fourmile Canyon Fire area, we heard a strong request for one point of contact to help coordinate post-fire rebuilding efforts,” said Commissioner Ben Pearlman, speaking on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners. “Our goal in establishing this new service is to be able to personally and effectively continue serving the needs of everyone who lost a home or personal property in the fire.”
The county commissioners have designated Land Use Department staff member and Fourmile Canyon Fire community liaison Garry Sanfaçon to lead the effort. Sanfaçon is putting together an outreach and assessment team who will be responsible for the overall coordination of post-fire rebuilding efforts and serve as the county’s principal point of contact for property owners and renters, contractors, fire districts, members of the public, county staff and other agencies.
Sanfaçon and his team are already working on a plan to contact every household that suffered a property loss to discuss their individual needs for rebuilding. “I’m eager to continue working with residents to better understand what’s needed, what’s working and what’s not working in the areas impacted by the fire,” said Sanfaçon, in his new position as the Fourmile Fire Recovery Manager. “My role is to listen, to get out and meet with people on their own terms, and to ensure the county’s recovery response is coordinated and effective.”
Sanfaçon can be reached at 720-564-2642 or gsanfaçon@bouldercounty.org. The recovery center is located in the Land Use Department, Courthouse Annex, 2045 13th Street (corner of Spruce Street) in Boulder.
Requests for individual and family support services, such as financial, housing, health, and mental health counseling, can still be made directly to the Fourmile Fire Assistance Center at 3482 N. Broadway (at Iris) in Boulder, or by calling 303-441-3560. Hours of operation for the assistance center are 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
SOURCE: BOULDER COUNTY NEWS RELEASE
increased fire danger threat #boulder NWS…. fire chief says be vigilant: READ STORY:
Nov 6th
Hazardous Weather Outlook
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1054 AM MDT SAT NOV 06 2010
1054 AM MDT SAT NOV 06 2010
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1054 AM MDT SAT NOV 06 2010
1054 AM MDT SAT NOV 06 2010
A PERIOD OF GUSTY WINDS IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN AND NEAR THE FRONT
RANGE FOOTHILLS LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS ALONG WITH
MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND LOW HUMIDITIES WILL INCREASE THE
FIRE DANGER THREAT.
Fire Chief Larry Donner Boulder fire chief talks to Boulder Channel 1 news this afternoon.
Larry Donner Boulder fire chief:” People need to have a heightened awareness this weekend. It is very dry out. Though we are not in Red Flag Warning situation which requires high wind and high temperatures, we could go there if the wind picks up. tomorrow, saturday, the temperatures will high enough. Heightened awareness in in order.
We have low moisture so by mid day when the temperatures heat up ‘flashy fuels” such as grass ( these are the ones which burn first) are easily igniteable ”
People need to put defensible space around their homes and not put that work on their to do list. that includes moving firewood and cutting tall grass near homes. Some people think that grass is not much of a threat, but 4 foot high grass can have a crown of ten feet and be very dangerous.
Wildland fire behavior is much like flood water behavior. Fire has currents and eddies. So when you’ll notice that two or three houses in a neighborhood will be burned and one will be left standing, that is most probabluy a result of the currents formed by fires.
residents don’t realize just how dangerous wild land fires can be until it is too late. In the four mile fire we had people on sunshine canyon who didn’t want to leave, but the fire was moving so fast, that though it was a few miles away they waited until smoke and embers forced them out . That is a dangerous situation for everyone. those embers were the size of roof shingles and they were blowing one mile in front of the fire. We can’t stop that.
fire fighters lives are put at risk when residents do not want to leave. They don’t think it is so bad, but if they get in the way of fire fighting efforts, we have to then have to rescue them and in some cases our selves. That was the case in the four Mile fire.
What people need to realize is that if the wind is blowing in a hot wild land fire, The fire is moving at 40 miles per hour. You can’t out run that. It comes up on you real fast and then it is too late.
There have been experiments done in Australia where residents stayed behind to fight wild land fires, but when the fire arrived at their property it was crowning at 10 to 20 feet , moving at 30 to 50 mph, was extremely hot ..and it killed everyone in its path. That’s what we always want to avoid in Boulder.
I scratch my head when I see most wild fires are human caused. People should not be burning anything near open space with conditions like this. this is a very hightened condition for fires..
We have something called “point protection, where we will pick the most likely house to save, but down the road 3 or 4 other houses will burn because of poor space protection, high winds and flying ambers.
So , yeah, this weekend remain vigilant and aware.”
