Wildfire Partners is a home mitigation program aimed at helping Boulder County residents prepare for wildfire. RedZone, in cooperation with the county, is beginning its second year of facilitating the program. The goal of Wildfire Partners is to assist homeowners who live in the mountains and foothills, and guide them through the process of hardening their home to survive a wildfire. Some of those tasks may include clearing combustible material around the house, clearing trees that could convey fire to the structure, and adding flashing between the home and wood surfaces such as decks or fencing.
[av_promobox button=’yes’ label=’Contact Us’ link=’manually,info@redzone.co’ link_target=” color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ size=’large’ icon_select=’yes’ icon=’ue805′ font=’entypo-fontello’ box_color=” box_custom_font=’#ffffff’ box_custom_bg=’#444444′ box_custom_border=’#333333′] Want to learn about how Wildfire Partners could be implemented in your community? Please contact RedZone for more details.[/av_promobox]
Since 2014, more than 1000 participating homeowners and 30 partner organizations have helped make this program a success. Wildfire Partners is a nationally recognized model for wildfire mitigation that is incorporated into the county’s building code. The program is funded by Boulder County, along with a $1.5 million grant from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and a $1.125 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“The old approach was firefighters were responsible for saving homes from wildfire. The new approach, the new emphasis, is shifting responsibility to homeowners. This program empowers homeowners to be able to take that personal responsibility,” said Jim Webster of Boulder County.
The Wildfire Partners Process
Homeowners in the program actively participate in a comprehensive assessment of their home with a Wildfire Mitigation Specialist, and receive a customized report that identifies the weak links in your home’s defenses. This report will include a checklist of items to mitigate, annotated photos of vulnerabilities, and additional information on wildfire mitigation and preparedness. Homeowners may also be eligible for financial reward after completing all the required mitigation actions, and upon completion, will receive a mitigation certificate which is recognized by many national insurance carriers.
Wildfire Partners Results
Homeowners who live in the wildland urban interface (WUI) have already seen successful results, in particular with the Cold Springs Fire in Nederland, Colorado, in July of 2016.
The video below, “Home Survival Success Stories”, contains interviews of actual homeowners affected by the Cold Springs fire, and contains aerial drone footage of homes in the Nederland area which were completely surrounded by fire, but which survived the blaze nonetheless.
By completing mitigation measures correctly, homeowners will rest easy knowing they have acted responsibly to help protect their families and the first responders who may be called upon in the event of a wildfire.
