Polis signs 3 wildfire bills into law

Je co, Clear Creek o cials attend the ceremony

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

County and re o cials from Je erson and Clear Creek counties watched Gov. Jared Polis sign three bills into law that will look at di erent facets of preparing for wild re.

Polis stopped by Inter-Canyon Fire’s Station 1 in Morrison on May 12 to sign bills that will:

• Establish a wild re resiliency code board to create rules that governing bodies in the wildlandurban interface — including the Je erson County foothills and Clear Creek County — will adopt to harden homes to reduce wild re risk;

• Increase the number of state re investigators to four, rather than the one investigator it has now; and

• Provide funding to give high school students more information about career opportunities in forestry and wild re mitigation, and to provide community colleges with funding to create programs in wildland re prevention and mitigation.

“ ese bills are the product of a lot of work, and it’s been a pleasure to help shepherd them through the legislature,” state Sen. Lisa Cutter, who represents District 20 that includes Evergreen, told the group that gathered for the bill signing.

“Any time the state puts more money into re response is a good thing,” Inter-Canyon Fire Chief Skip Shirlaw added.

For Dan Gibbs, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, anything the state can do to avert wild re is important.

“We are one lightning strike, one drought season and one unattended re away from a catastrophic wild re,” he noted.

Hardening homes to reduce wildfire risk

Clear Creek Commissioner Randy Wheelock said while Clear Creek County already has e ective reresiliency codes for structures, it was important for all jurisdictions to have strong codes.

“Wild res don’t stop at the border of Clear Creek County,” Wheelock said. “ at means the quality with which homes are built will help not only save homes but help stop the spread of con agrations. is is a big deal.”

Cutter added that a uniform code for structures would help protect the state in the long run, addressing wild re threats that are increasing daily.

Increasing state fire investigators e new law ensures the state has more capacity and resources to do the investigations, added Rep. Tammy Story, who represents District 25 including Evergreen and Conifer.

Having more state re investigators is important, especially for small re districts, North Fork Fire Chief Curt Rogers said, noting that some re departments don’t have investigators, so they rely on the state investigator.

More re investigators statewide who can help gure out why res occur will provide more data, so the state can do whatever it can to stop them, Cutter said.

Education and recruitment

Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, who represents District 17 in eastern Boulder County, said she wanted to support the next generation to do forestry and wildre mitigation work.

Cutter added: “If we don’t have people to do the work, we are all in trouble. Everyone tells us they need more people on the ground, and these programs will help with that.”