BOULDER, Colo. — Nearing the second anniversary of the Marshall Fire, the City of Boulder is making headway on its Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP).
The city held a webinar Thursday night to find out what residents want to see in the plan.
The goal of the CWPP is to save lives, protect property and reduce risk in the event of another suburban wildland fire like the Marshall Fire. It hopes to do that by recommending ways to reduce things that fuel fires, lower the risk that a home will ignite in the first place and improve firefighter response.
The Thursday meeting gave the public a chance to add their ideas and identify any gaps the plan may have so far.
One resident asked if the plan includes help paying for wildfire mitigation efforts around his property. According to panelist Steve Orr of the Boulder Fire Department, "There has not been to date much funding — if any funding — for individual homeowners to make these efforts."
There were also multiple questions about whether the plan will do anything to comfort jittery home insurers who now charge sky-high premiums and if there is a chance insurers will just pull out of Boulder. Brian Oliver from Boulder Fire Department admitted, "The potential is there, but we haven't seen it come to fruition in Boulder yet."
The CWPP is funded by Boulder's climate tax, passed by voters last November.
When the plan is completed next summer, it will be the guiding document to help Boulder reduce fire risk and make sure the city and residents are as prepared and resilient as they can be.
