TOP
10
Over 700,000 acres have burned this year in Colorado.
Wildfire Preperation Tips
Colorado Project Wildfire Taskforce Makes Tremendous Strides In Midst of State’s Worst Wildfire Season on Record Following a relatively mild 2019 Colorado wildfire season, the relentless and unprecedented nature of all things 2020 has now added “catastrophic,” “historic,” and “worst” wildfire season on record to its list of casualties this year with approximately 700,000 acres burned and hundreds of homes and other structures lost. And the fires are still burning. Prior to 2002, Colorado had never had a fire even come close, let alone exceed 100,000 acres. The Hayman fire changed that, and fortunately 11 years passed before another fire crossed that boundary. Now, in 2020, Colorado has three of the largest fires in state history, including the Cameron Peak fire which is the first to exceed 200,000 acres. Even before the outbreak of fires that have required firefighters to battle incredibly challenging conditions and terrain, COVID restrictions had drastically limited the growing number of annual in-person, communitybased events and mitigation activities. And
yet, members of the Colorado Association of REALTORS® Project Wildfire Taskforce continued to make tremendous strides across a wide range of program goals and objectives. A record number of REALTOR® members representing wildfire prone communities across the state participated in an informative Fall Forum discussion and update on a wide range of topics designed to help educate homeowners and help prevent the potentially devastating impact of fires to property, structures and lives. With members providing updates on local programming and initiatives from Aspen and Durango to Mountain Metro, Vail and Steamboat Springs, the Taskforce also reviewed the latest legislative policies and proposals, as well as insurance industry issues and a presentation of a newly released interactive tool from the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) focused on a more localized wildfire risk index. Here are some highlights of the program work and resources that has and continues continued on next page
30
