The CWPP Focus Groups Were a Great Success!

     Cork Rech, CCCFPD CWPP Implementation Team

The Coal Creek Canyon Fire Protection District’s (CCCFPD) Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) Focus Groups were held on Thursday nights in June 2024. The meetings were held at the four fire stations in the Fire District and attended by over 150 concerned residents from each of the 15 CWPP Plan Units.

Presentations were made by members of the CCCFPD CWPP Implementation Team, Cork Rech, Jody Dickson and Maya MacHamer, to start a discussion of the top five risk reduction recommendations identified in the new CWPP.

Top Five CWPP Recommendations:

1. Completing Home Ignition Zone mitigation/Improving defensible space

2. Planning for evacuation 

3. Mitigating roadsides, especially non-survivable evacuation routes

4. Linking defensible space

5. Forming/participating in fire mitigation groups

   
   

Summation of community member responses:

Effective Fire Mitigation in the Home Ignition Zone (HIZ)

This was identified as the most important action for all residents to take immediately. Effective fire mitigation measures performed in the HIZ, which include home hardening and creating defensible space in Zones 1, 2 and 3 around the home, has been shown to give homes a fighting chance to survive wildfire. Assessed by the Wildfire Mitigation Specialists who helped write our CWPP, most homes in CCC were found deficient in HIZ preparedness.

See pgs 46-52 in the CWPP.

Roadside Fuels Mitigation of Non-Survivable Roads

Many residents expressed concern that some roads in their communities would be non-survivable in a wildfire scenario, both for responding firefighters and fleeing residents. Plan Unit fire mitigation groups need to contact owners of the properties along the non-survivable sections of road to plan for performing fuels mitigation along these dangerous sections.

See pgs 233-234 in the CWPP.

Linking Defensible Space Efforts in Zone 3

Neighbors can increase the survival chances of their homes during a wildfire if they work together to create linked defensible space. Linking Zone 3 fuels mitigation also creates safer conditions and better tactical opportunities for wildland firefighters. NOTE: Defensible space projects that span ownership boundaries are better candidates for grant funding due to their impact and strategic value.

See pg 53 in the CWPP.

Evacuation Planning

Attendees of the Focus Groups identified planning for swift, coordinated evacuation as a high priority. The CWPP clearly outlines several evacuation scenarios with wildfire coming from different directions, with residents using the four evacuation routes available to get out of the Fire District. Residents were surprised at the extended length of time required to get out of their Coal Creek Canyon communities in a mass evacuation scenario.

See pgs 226-232 in the CWPP.

Establishing Fire Mitigation Groups

Residents expressed a need to form groups (if none exist) in all Plan Units to build a structure to assist residents with implementing the recommendations in the new CWPP. Some communities formed their fire mitigation groups during the Plan Unit breakout session that very night! Everyone understood that the CCCFPD is not in a position, financially or man-power-wise, to do any of the fire mitigation work required on private properties. The Fire District is committed to assisting these resident groups by offering the guidance of the CCCFPD CWPP Implementation Team.

The CWPP can be accessed in several ways:

Go to www.CoalCreekCWPP.org and you will find 3 links on the homepage.

Choose to review:

·         The full CWPP document (Pages referenced above)

·         The shortened “storymap” online version

·         The Resident Action Plan

Please take a few minutes to become familiar with the document; a step-by-step plan to make yours a Fire Adapted Community. The CCCFPD invested two years and a significant amount of funds to create the CWPP. It is up to us to complete the recommendations outlined in the plan, to give our fire department a fighting chance of protecting our lives and property from wildfire.

The CCCFPD CWPP Implementation Team is here to assist you every step of the way! Contact us at CWPPforCCC@gmail.com.