DENVER – Thursday marks six months since the Marshall Fire swept through parts of Boulder County, Louisville, and Superior, destroying more than a thousand homes and upending countless lives.
As communities start the process of rebuilding from the ground up, many Front Range residents are wondering what their elected officials are doing to prevent a tragedy like the one from the Marshall Fire happening again.
In this 360 In-Depth report on Colorado’s continuous wildfire threat:
- We’ll look at what on metro area city is asking residents to do in order to prevent wildfire
- What new evacuation routes one county is working on to get people out of harm’s way
But first, some good news.
Nearly six months after the Marshall Fire, officials at the federal, state and local level in Boulder County said during a roundtable discussion this week they’ve made “significant progress” in the recovery and debris removal process for the areas affected by the wildfire.
The Colorado Daily reports that even though debris removal has been described by officials as swift, “there is still a long way to go until the recovery process is complete,” as only 11 building permits have been issued to homeowners across the three affected jurisdictions.
Earlier this month, the first home groundbreaking occurred in Louisville and officials told Denver7 at the time it will still be a long process for so many, especially those whose lots still have not been cleared of debris.
Officials did say, however, that they expect to wrap up debris removal in July.
Let’s talk wildfire mitigation. 🚫🔥
The City of Golden recently updated its wildfire protection plan, which helps residents look at identifying risks, how to go about mitigating them, and also how to prepare the community for something like an evacuation if there ever is wildfire in the area.
When it comes to mitigation, Golden officials said they’re hoping to start work on mitigation through home features like landscape design, outdoor storage practice, and vegetation maintenance on people’s property.
Another part of mitigation includes what officials called “notification.”
Golden uses the Lookout Alert Emergency Notification System, and officials want every resident in the area to be signed up for that, so that it goes out to those who need it in case a wildfire ever happens near their home or business.
The last aspect of the wildfire protection plan involves evacuation.
Officials told Denver7 they working to put a plan in place that will allow for smooth evacuation from areas affected by wildfires.
Fire mitigation is starting this week in Eagle County near Beaver Creek, and officials say because of that, dust will be visible throughout the summer; they ask that residents or tourists do not report it as wildfire smoke.
Crews will be creating fire breaks with heavy equipment and hand tolls. The goal is to improve defensible space and create evacuation routes.
The work is scheduled near Beaver Creek until the snow starts in late fall.
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