Fire officials finger county

Fire officials finger county's high-risk areas

Sept 8, 2001

By Janelle Holden
Journal Staff Writer

Although no homes were burned during the 2000 Mesa Verde National Park fires or the numerous other fires that raged last summer, the fact that more and more county residents are choosing to live in the remote, wooded areas of the county worries volunteer fire crews.

"You don’t have to look far into history to note that we have a pretty severe wildfire hazard in Montezuma County and the other four counties down here in Southwest Colorado," explained Dan Ochoki, district forester at the Durango District State Forest Service Office.

"There are just frankly not enough resources to save every home that’s being built or is built in the middle of the woods. Therefore, the homeowners have to take some of that burden themselves to create some of this defensible space so that perhaps the fire will burn right by their home if it does get going, or if a fire department responding with an engine will be able to make a stand and not risk their lives and equipment," says Ochoki.

To encourage homeowners to build a "defensible space" around their homes and property, the state forest service will help dole out $1.5 million of the National Fire Plan’s federal money given to Western states to help defend urban-interface areas.

Ochoki said applications will be accepted until Sept. 21, and the competitive grant will help fund 50 percent of the project.

"I’d rather not see single people in a subdivision (applying). I’d much rather see the homeowners’ association or a group of them band together because that’s certainly more effective," explained Ochoki, who said the scale of the project is critical for success.

If the project is accepted, the grants will either reimburse contractors or landowners willing to take on the job themselves; money may be available as early as November, and the state forest service will serve as consultants to interested landowners.

"We’ll come out and walk it and talk it and provide assistance as much as we can," said Ochoki.

Worrying that county landowners’ luck might run out sooner rather than later, Montezuma County fire chiefs have banded together to come up with a community fire plan and identify the residences most at risk from wildfires.

The chiefs recently identified 14 areas at risk in the county. Generally defined, the areas are Lowry Ruin, the Dolores Rim, McPhee Mobile Home Park, Granath Mesa, Mountain View subdivision, Summit Lakes, Cedar Mesa, Jackson Lake, East Canyon, the county landfill, Indian Camp Ranch, McElmo Canyon, Kinder-Morgan pump stations, and Goodman Point. The map is posted in the county commissioners’ room for the public to view.

One of the participating chiefs, Mancos Fire Chief Lyle Cox, said that many areas were identified around Mancos and "most are severe."

A community fire meeting to discuss and perhaps add to a list of county areas at risk has been set for Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 6 p.m. in the Calvin Denton Room at Empire Electric.

Representatives of the state forest service will be on hand to discuss grant money, and representatives from federal agencies will discuss opportunities to coordinate thinning and prescribed burns on public lands with adjacent private lands.

Mike Preston, the county’s federal-lands coordinator, said the county is concerned not only for the safety of its volunteer firefighters, but also because fires can damage the health of the county’s watershed.

For more information or to get grant applications, contact the state forest service at 247-5250, or Mike Preston, 565-8525.