Wildfire Plan
See our "Deployment Services" in cooperation with Anchor Point Group and the Colorado State Forest Service.
The wildland-urban interface is commonly described as the area where human development meets and intermingles with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels. This area poses a tremendous risk to life, property, and infrastructure in associated communities and is one of the most dangerous and complicated situations firefighters face.
The Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003 builds on existing efforts to restore healthy forest conditions near communities and essential
community infrastructure by authorizing expedited environmental assessments, administrative appeals, and legal review for hazardous fuels projects on federal land. The Act emphasizes the need for federal agencies to work collaboratively with communities in developing hazardous fuel reduction projects, and it places priority on treatment areas identified by communities, in this case the Berthoud Fire Protection District, themselves in a “Community Wildfire Protection Plan.”The Berthoud Fire Protection District through a matching fund grant with the Colorado State Forest Service is developing a community wildfire protection plan for ten (10) residential communities within both Larimer and Boulder Counties based upon a nationally recognized fire hazard rating system. Two (2) areas of special interest have also been identified.
Door hangers with a brief outline of our community meeting will be distributed throughout the following ten (10) residential communities inviting homeowners to a neighborhood meeting: residents of Sedona Hills, Homer Road, Rainbow Lakes Estates, Cushman Estates, Hertha Ridge, Wark Road, Sprague Road, Dakota Ridge, Berthoud Estates and Blue Mountain and those residents who reside off of County Road 27E between County Road 4 and County Road 8E.
Neighborhood Meeting
Wednesday, August 29 @ 6:30 p.m.
Berthoud Fire Station 2
4014 West County Road 8, Berthoud
The “Community Wildfire Protection Plan” consists of eight steps:
Step One: Convene Decision Makers
- Form a core team made up of representatives from the appropriate local governments, local fire authority, and state agency responsible for forest management
Step Two: Involve Federal/State Agencies
- Identify and engage local representatives of the United States Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.
- Contact and involve other land management agencies as appropriate.
Step Three: Engage Interested Parties
- Contact and encourage active involvement in plan development from a broad range of interested organizations and stakeholders.
Step Four: Establish a Community Risk Assessment
- Work with partners to establish a baseline map of the community(s) that defines the community’s wildland –urban interface and displays inhabited areas at risk, forested areas that contain critical human infrastructure, and forest areas at risk for large-scale fire disturbance.
Step Five: Develop a Community Risk Assessment
- Work with partners to develop a community risk assessment that considers fuel hazards; risk of wildfire occurrence; homes, businesses, and essential infrastructure at risk; other community values at risk; and local preparedness capability.
- Rate the level of risk for each factor and incorporate the information into the base map as appropriate.
Step Six: Establish Community Priorities and Recommendations
- Use the base map and community risk assessment to facilitate a collaborative community discussion that leads to the identification of local priorities for fuel treatment, reducing structural ignitability, and other issues of interest, such as improving fire response capability.
- Clearly indicate whether priority projects are directly related to protection of communities and essential infrastructure or to reducing wildfire risks to other community values.
Step Seven: Develop an Action Plan and Assessment Strategy
- Consider developing a detailed implementation strategy to accompany the “Community Wildfire Protection Plan,” as well as a monitoring plan that will ensure its long-term success.
Step Eight: Finalize the “Community Wildfire Protection Plan”
Finalize the “Community Wildfire Protection Plan” and communicate the results to the communities and key partners.
This neighborhood meeting is one of several steps in reducing the risk of the loss of life, property and critical infrastructure within your community. We look forward to your attendance and input; your participation is critical to the success of this very important program. As of this date, August 3rd the “Community Wildfire Protection Plan” is at 35% completion.
Visit www.firewise.org
