![]() 21 public meeting, Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway said insurance companies are increasingly asking homebuilders and homeowners to build more fire-resistant houses, which are more expensive. “Without change, wildfires that destroy structures will increase in both frequency and severity in perpetuity, not just in Boulder County but in nearly every area of Colorado.” “This is the wave of the future”Īlready, insurance companies doing business in some areas of Colorado are requiring changes.ĭuring an Oct. “It may well be that only economic drivers, such as exponentially rising home insurance premiums, may be the only factor able to induce change at the scale necessary in Colorado,” the report stated. ![]() The report also ponders whether local governments have the wherewithal to enforce changes. ![]() “Given how quickly wildland vegetation will rebound from the Marshall fire, the towns may find themselves at the same level of risk within a year or two.”Īs urban growth continues in Colorado, it will take a multi-layered approach to prevent catastrophic damage, including local governments changing building codes and the state and federal government improving wildland management. The towns of Superior and Louisville are not unique in their setting, adjacent to wildland fuels near areas of Chinook-induced rotors,” the report said, referring to high winds. “As climate change continues, more area will burn on average, exposing more structures, destroying more communities and killing more people. And they are not alone in that risk, the report said. It warns that Louisville and Superior - the two Boulder County municipalities hit hardest by the fire - will be at risk for another similar fire within a couple of years. The sheriff’s office hopes to complete interviews in the near future and then do a final review before identifying the origin, she said.Īlong with a strong warning about future wildfires in Colorado, the report delivered disheartening news for people who have not started rebuilding their homes incinerated by the Marshall fire. “We’re trying to tell a story of what happened and hope other fire departments, not just in Colorado, but around the world will know.”Ĭarrie Haverfield, a Boulder County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, said the investigation into the wildfire’s cause is ongoing. “We really hope this report is going to be used to educate other communities on how to respond to a large-scale urban wildfire,” Pruitt said. But fault-finding was not the purpose of the report, said Caley Pruitt, a fire prevention and control spokeswoman. 30 fire that burned 6,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,000 homes and businesses. One question that was not answered in the report is what started the Dec. “If the Marshall fire is not that tipping point, it may not exist at all…” “In the aftermath of the Marshall fire, one wonders if a tipping point exists that will spur large-scale collective action to address well-documented and severe risks to the lives and livelihood of Coloradans,” the report said. The narrative describes strong winds ripping the doors off fire trucks and blowing flaming chunks of wood around neighborhoods where houses were burning at the rate of one foot per second. That dire warning came in a lengthy report released this week by the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control that offers lessons learned from the fire while also painting a dramatic portrait of how the wildfire spread and the efforts people took to fight it and save lives. The Marshall fire should serve as a tipping point for the entire state of Colorado when it comes to mitigating wildfires, and if the December fire that killed two people and cost upwards of $2 billion in damages does not, then people will continue to die and more property will be lost. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu
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