CODES

of another community in the mountains,” Stau er said. “It’s appropriate for local governments to have input on these decisions.”

Gov. Jared Polis’ o ce indicated he could support the idea with some changes.

“ e Governor’s team is working with the sponsors and stakeholders to ensure legislation ts with his goals of making Colorado safer and reducing home prices,” Polis’ o ce said, in a statement on the draft language.

Local governments also worry statewide codes would create expensive standards for homeowners and homebuilders, exacerbating housing shortages. ey also complain the building code would represent an unfunded mandate on local authorities, who would have to inspect and enforce the rules.

Local o cials might consider supporting a statewide board creating model codes that cities and counties could choose to adopt, Stau er said. Negotiations have also oated the idea of a code board de ning a “menu” of tighter codes that local governments could mix and match to suit their conditions.

Cutter rejects that idea out of hand.

“ e menu idea won’t y,” she said. “ is is long overdue, to get on the same page.” e other lead sponsors for the mandatory codes bill include Sen. Tony Exum, D-Colorado Springs, and Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs. e code board legislation would: e codes would apply to new residential buildings; how much renovation of an existing home would trigger a mandatory code update is still to be negotiated. e re chiefs’ association says members are ready to push back against local o cials’ arguments that they understand the wild re threat and will make changes.

First require the appointed board to set the geographic boundaries of wildland-urban interface zones across the state where new codes would apply.

Adopt minimum building and landscaping codes for local governments to pass, though cities and towns could make them tougher than the state minimum.

Establish a petition process for local governments to appeal and modify the codes.

Allow the governor to appoint 10 members of the board, the legislature to appoint 10 more members, and name three subject matter expert board members participating ex-o cio.

“ en why haven’t you done something already? Really simple question,” said Garry Briese, executive director of the Colorado State Fire Chiefs. “As a result of the inaction of local jurisdictions we have a statewide problem that doesn’t respect political boundaries, that is incredibly destructive, and some-

1-877-328-1512 thing has to be done.” e Marshall re at the end of 2021 burned nearly 1,100 homes and caused more than $2 billion in damage as it swept east from Marshall Mesa through Superior and Louisville. ough a report on the re’s origins is still pending, the wild re was fanned by 100 mph winds that pushed embers across grassland and into subdivisions bordering open space. e Waldo Canyon re destroyed about 350 homes and forced thousands to evacuate from western Colorado Springs, Woodland Park and Manitou Springs, causing $450 million in damage. It was followed the next year by the Black Forest re in more wildland-urban terrain northeast of Colorado Springs, resulting in nearly 500 lost homes.

East Troublesome in the fall of 2020 burned close to 200,000 acres and 366 houses, with $543 million in damage. Winds whipped embers over the Continental Divide, burning large portions of Rocky Mountain National Park and forcing evacuation of Estes Park before it was stopped in Beaver Meadows.

Colorado Springs enacted tough building codes after Waldo Canyon, including banning shake roofs, lowering the number of roof vents, moving decorative grasses and other ammable shrubs away from buildings, and more.

Many re chiefs see the 2002 Hayman re, which swept up from Lake George toward the southwest Denver metro area, as a marker for a new era in preparing for wildland-urban re ghting.

“If we had just started this after the Hayman re, we wouldn’t be having this discussion today,” Briese said. “We would have re resistant roofs, we’d have all sorts of other things. So here we are, 20 years after Hayman, trying to play catch up, because the residences in the WUI have exploded in the meantime. e problem has gotten geometrically bigger and more complicated by inaction.”

Uniform codes could help address other growing problems for Coloradans, including nding a ordable insurance — or even any insurance policy at all — for homes that insurance companies say are indefensible from re, bill advocates said.

Cutter cites studies showing that for every $1 spent on hardening homes and landscapes in the interface areas, between $4 and $8 in damage is prevented.

Slowing wild res from hopping from home to home and getting out of control in one part of the state makes a di erence hundreds of miles away, Cutter said, with implications not just for property damage but for air quality and other issues.

“If there’s a re in Glenwood Springs,” she said, “we can’t breathe in Denver.” is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.