Wildfire Event in Crested Butte

June 29, 2017

On June 29, 2017, the Gunnison Country Association of REALTORS® hosted a Wildfire Awareness Event in partnership with Colorado Project Wildfire, The West Region Wildfire Council, Crested Butte Fire Protection District, Markit! Forestry Management, and the Colorado State Forest Service.

This event, held in Crested Butte, featured several speakers and a tour of current mitigation projects.  The speakers addressed developing community-wide watershed fire mitigation plans and tips for creating defensible space around homes by removing fuel sources that prevent embers from catching fire and decrease the likelihood of spreading crown fires.  Homeowners and REALTORS® can work together to promote these thinning recommendations which not only protect first responder access to properties, but are also designed to be aesthetically pleasing landscape changes that cultivate healthy forests.  Many Firewise communities also have dedicated community chipping programs that enable residents to help their local timber economies when they use cost-sharing programs to fund wildfire mitigation on their properties.

Colorado Project Wildfire is designed to reduce and/or prevent the destruction of land, property, and lives by raising awareness and educating residents throughout our state. Colorado REALTORS® are working in partnership with other like-minded fire prevention organizations across our state to bring education and awareness, as well as access to resources directly to residents in their local communities.

With active wildfires burning across the state, Colorado REALTORS® are expanding their efforts to educate homeowners about the dangers of wildfires, especially to those living in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) areas, through a program designed to help connect homeowners willing to mitigate their properties and reduce wildfire risks with information and resources in their local communities.

The Colorado Project Wildfire website (www.coloradoprojectwildfire.com), provides residents with direct links to wildfire related organizations and resources that exist in specific communities across the state.