Firewise Community Opportunity

Gold Hill’s application to become a “Firewise Community” has now been accepted.  This is a NFPA program that is particularly relevant to areas where structures are too close together (as in the platted section of Gold Hill) to manage risks on an individual basis.  Information on the program can be accessed here:  https://www.nfpa.org/Education-and-Research/Wildfire/Firewise-USA

What this may mean for you

On an immediate practical level this has two implications for residents and businesses in the platted town area:

1. You are now eligible for free home or business assessments under the county’s Wildfire Partners program (https://wildfirepartners.org), and
2. If you have your home or business assessed, you are eligible to apply to the county for financial assistance to invest in recommended mitigation measures.

The county has funding to support mitigation for up to 50 homes beyond the standard $500 rebate program.  If residents get assessments completed and applications in early, there should be a better chance of getting such support before the program becomes well known.  In addition, Colorado recently passed a law (which takes effect this summer) requiring that insurance companies take account of mitigation measures when determining coverage and rates for insurance.

Note: having your home assessed provides information, it does not require you to do anything!

If you decide to apply

It’s important to clusters of homes to apply for assessments at the same time.  Because fire mitigation measures don’t make much difference if they only apply to a few isolated structures, you’re much less likely to be certified or receive financial assistance if other nearby homes aren’t also taking action. So:

1. See if you can talk to neighbors and organize them to apply at the same time;
2. Let the county know that groups of applications involving nearby buildings are being sent in. Meg Halford is the contact for this.  Her email is: mhalford@nullbouldercounty.gov

Overall, the more people apply the better!  This will support the town Firewise designation and, in addition to the benefits for individual owners, should greatly improve our ability to attract grants and other resources for fire mitigation.

Marcus Moench

marcus.moench@nullgmail.com