Eagle County prepares for the ultimate fight

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Eagle County prepares for the ultimate fight

A wildfire here is inevitable, but local firefighters and residentsare preparing

Lauren Glendenning , lglendenning@vailtrail.com
June 18, 2008
The summer is here, bringing with it raging rivers, sunshine,summer recreation and something a little less cheerful  the threatof wildfires.

Town and county officials know all too well about the threat  allthey have to do is look up to see the rust-colored treesinterspersed throughout the forest. After several seasons of pinebeetle attacks, much of the forest above Vail is looking ruddy withdead, dry trees that are ready to burn.

A massive wildfire could spread rapidly through the forestssurrounding our narrow valley, which fills with more developmentand more people every year. That means theres more lying within awildfires path now than ever.

Preparing for the worst
Firefighters throughout the county are as ready as they can be fora wildfire, says Fire Chief Charles Moore of the Eagle River FireProtection District. Last week, the district hosted basic wildlandfire training for its 2008 recruiting class. The four-day class istaught to federal, state and local responders around the country,allowing them to work as a team when they're deployed to fightwildfires together. The training enables not only firefighters towork together when called, but also other agencies like the U.S.Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and law enforcement.

No matter who is in charge of the fire, everyone understands theirrole and responsibilities," says Brian Lloyd, district ranger forthe Eagle/Holy Cross district of the U.S. Forest Service. It's areally important tool."

Deployments happen often  several Eagle River Fire ProtectionDistrict firefighters went to fight the fires near San Diego lastyear, and many firefighters from Vail and other local jurisdictionshave also traveled elsewhere to fight wildfires.

(Deployment) is the best thing for training," says Vail Fire ChiefMark Miller. To get them deployed when we're not at a high dangerhere gets them great experience."
Training is extensive regardless of whether firefighters end uptraveling to wildfires in other parts of the country. The four-dayclass, also known as red card certification, tests the limits ofthese firefighters' physical abilities. From carrying a 45-poundpack for three miles  in less than 45 minutes  to carving linesin the forest that divide burning sections from non-burningsections, the firefighters have their work cut out for them. Andtraining is a cakewalk compared to the real thing, not only becauseof obvious reasons like an out-of-control wildfire, but alsobecause deployment means they'll be working 16-hour days for atleast two weeks straight.

(Fighting a wildfire) takes a lot of folks and it's very laborintensive," says Karl Bauer, deputy chief of training andadministration for the Eagle River Fire Protection District. It'snot uncommon to have as many as 1,000 (firefighters) on a wildlandfire. It's like managing an army."

The fuel behind fighting wildfires
The county's last major wildfire was almost a year ago in theSingletree area of Edwards. Gusty winds turned a small fire believed to be started by illegal fireworks  into five acres injust minutes, says Eagle River Fire Protection District ChiefMoore. Through cooperation between his agency and the ForestService, the Bureau of Land Management, the Vail and Eagle FireDepartments and the Eagle River District, crews were able to putthe fire out pretty quickly, he said. That cooperation is key, butduring busy fire years  which Lloyd says are just about every yearthese days  those fire agencies are just as likely to be competingfor the same help.

The county and its partners in fighting wildfires have identifiedwhere to put those limited resources to best use by identifying thehigh-value areas that are most important to protect  meaning areaswith the most at stake, such as buildings and people.

Prevention is another key part of the plan.

The town of Vail, which has plenty to protect, implemented its ownwildfire ordinance that calls for inspections of trees on privateproperties and gives residents options for getting rid of them,says Vail Fire Chief Miller.

Cordillera, an upscale community near Edwards, has been one of theleaders in wildfire prevention in the county. Residents there worktogether with the community's public safety director and otherofficials to minimize the fire risk around their homes andthroughout the community. Last year the community cut 12,000 deadtrees in a massive  and very expensive  effort to remove fuel forfire. Cordillera is one of eight communities in the state with theFirewise Community designation  meaning it has a network ofhomeowners and agencies like the Forest Service that work togetherto keep the area as protected from wildfires as possible.

Eagle County also passed a wildfire ordinance in 2003 that requiresnew buildings to meet wildfire standards, including usingfire-resistant building materials. The regulations are looked atannually and adjusted as needed.

Residents must step up
Despite their training, dont count on firefighters to save yourhouse in a wildfire  firefighters are more in the business ofsaving lives, not property, says Brad Jones, of the Eagle FireDepartment.

People who choose to have trees surrounding their homes simply forbeauty aren't creating what the fire departments call defensiblespace"  areas within 30 feet around homes where the fire riskshould be reduced as much as possible.

We'll get people (and) pets out, but we're not going to risk ourlife for a house," Jones says.

Thats why its important for people to defend their homes before afire ever starts. An obvious way to do this is to thin the treesclosest to the home, but it doesn't mean you have to replace allvegetation with cement. You do, however, need to ensure thevegetation around your home is spaced out properly and includes themost fire-resistant plants, such as aspen, succulents, wildflowersand some herbaceous species. Doing everything possible to protectyour home not only increases the chance it will survive a wildfire,but it also increases the chance you will survive  homes withdefensible space are more accessible to firefighters for rescues,and the firefighters also have more time to get to them.

People need to have their own plans in place, Moore says. Wildfiresare the natural disasters that the residents of Eagle County haveto be ready for, just as Floridians prepare for hurricanes andMidwesterners for tornadoes.

You've got to have an individual plan," Moore says. We're goingto be busy fighting the fire. People need to be smart."