REALTOR® Participation in Community Wildfire Preparedness

How Can You and Your Business Help Protect Homeowners From Wildfires?

As most of us know, Colorado is home to a huge Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), the U.S. Fire Administration’s name for a zone of transition between unoccupied land and human development. Where these two areas meet is where there is a great risk of wildfire and in Colorado, more than 50% of our state’s six million residents live in what can be defined as a wildfire prone area. Staggeringly, each year, this area grows about two million acres across the United States and, as we all witnessed in the final few days of 2021 with the catastrophic destruction caused by the Marshall Fire in Boulder County and Superior, these types of wildfires can occur anywhere at any time of the year.

A significant element of CAR’s Colorado Project Wildfire’s (CPW) mission is to provide resources and programming to REALTORS® around the state, so that they may work with local wildfire and public safety officials to offer wildfire risk and mitigation education in their own areas of the state.

CPW hopes that in sharing an example of a successful program with REALTOR® members, that they can then help homeowners learn about these ideas and resources in their own communities. A good start could include hosting a community meeting with fire and government officials and of course, members of the public.

For example, the 2022 Routt County Wildfire Conference was held in late April and consisted of two half-day sessions at Colorado Mountain College. Now in its fourth year, this event is an effort of the Routt County Wildfire Mitigation Council to promote public awareness and understanding of wildfire risk to foster community-driven action to reduce risk and the impacts of wildfire in Routt County.

About 75 community members and stakeholders attended the first day, and another 150 members of the public attended the second day of the conference. The event was sponsored by 13 different organizations, including the local REALTOR® Association, CAR, and governmental, education and community partners. The two-day event provided unique content for the different target audiences.

The first day of programming was designed for a smaller group of leaders and stakeholders within the community to get information on three main issues: current updates on forest health, building and permitting overviews, and reviewing its Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

“Fire is and will continue to be part of our environment, no matter where we live,” said Steamboat Springs Board of REALTORS® CEO Ulrich Salzgeber, who also serves on the event planning committee. “Increased fire frequency and intensity is a reality, and the complex challenge of managing and mitigating those fires will continue to be front and center for all of us living in these WUI communities. In addition, there is a tremendous appetite and need for this information for homeowners in smaller communities. Many people don’t know where to start, and these community events are a great way to introduce some of this basic information and make connections.”

Since Colorado is host to different geography and weather patterns, there are diverse wildfire risks in each area. A group of local leaders, HOA officials, and the public are encouraged to create a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. This group collectively writes a living document that directs federal and state officials on how to work with a specific community to: reduce wildfire fuels while improving forest health; support the local industry and economy; and improve firefighting response capabilities. This document is reviewed annually and revised as needed. It includes:

• Unoccupied Land and Forest Updates: Local forest officials give current reports on the general forest health, wildfire conditions, and past and current fuel reduction efforts, which are key to informing stake holders of changes.

• Built Environment Governance and Planning: Local government officials explain land planning, building codes, and governmental policies and how they could be a tool for wildfire mitigation and preparedness.

On the second day of the conference, members of the general public were invited to take steps in wildfire protection through three steps: Homeowner mitigation, neighborhood preparedness and becoming educated on forest health and wildfire risk in their own communities. CAR CPW has created a helpful list of resources for REALTORS® and includes links to other organizations, government agencies and a basic toolkit. We encourage you to learn more about the programs and resources that are available to each of our associations and members through the Colorado Project Wildfire pages on the CAR website and to reach out to the CAR staff for additional insights on how to begin building your education outreach program.

CREATE YOUR OWN WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS EVENT IN YOUR COMMUNITY:

• Call the local fire chief in your area, as well as the county departments of emergency services and extension agent, building code officials, and the closest Colorado

State Forest Service office.

• Ask your local high school or library for an event space

• Gain attendance through client email lists, neighborhood associations, and business connections.

• Share CPW’s list of resources through email and social media.

Associations can ask CAR’s Colorado Project Wildfire for a grant to hold a program in their area. Contact Liz Peetz or Jesse Zamora at govaffairs@coloradorealtors.com or (303) 790-7099