The five feet closest to your house matter most
Zone 1, the first five feet around the structure, does more to save a home than any other part of a mitigation plan. Here's what belongs there and what has to go.
Read the full post →Wildfire Mitigation News
Field notes on fire, fuel, and forest health from the crew that does the clearing. Practical stuff for Front Range landowners, written by people who run the machines.
Posts 131
Since 2018
Topics Fire · Fuel · Forest health
Why cutting scrub oak makes it come back thicker
Gambel oak stores energy in root crowns that survive any cut. Understanding that is the difference between a thicket that stays gone and one that returns denser than before.
Read the full post →A hundred years of putting out fires built this fuel bed
Front Range forests are overgrown because we suppressed the small fires that used to keep them open. Restoration puts them back toward fire-resilient.
Read the full post →For anything specific to your property, the fastest answer is a free on-site walk-through.
From the archive
Everything we've written since 2018, sorted by what you're trying to do. Newest first within each topic.
Costs, programs & insurance
- Damaged Property
- Insurance and Fire Mitigation, Colorado
- Split the Costs for Mitigating for Wildfires in 2024 with Douglas County’s Wildfire Mitigation Cost-Sharing Program
- How Much Does Fire Mitigation Cost?
- How Much Does It Cost to Clear the Land?
- Wildfire Mitigation Tax Subtraction
Evacuation & staying safe
- Wildfire Fire Shelters: How “Shake and Bake” Shelters Work
- What to Do After a Wildfire Loss: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Caught in the Open in the Wildfire
- Caught in the Car During a Wildfire
- Wildfire Survivor’s Mental Health
- Inventory In Case Of Fire
- Caught at Home During a Wildfire: How to Shelter Safely
- Six-Hour Evacuation List
- Practice Evacuation Runs
- Pet Evacuation
- One-Hour Evacuation List In Case of Wildfires
- Neighborhood Watch
- Livestock Evacuation in Case of Wildfire
- Firearm Safety
- Evacuation Vehicles Set up In Case of a Wildfire
- Evacuation Procedure
- Evacuation Living
- Evacuation List In Case of Wildfire, Colorado
- Evacuation Kit In Case of Wildfire
- Evacuation During Wildfire
- Communication Plan For In Case of Wildfire
- Fire Extinguishers
- Evacuation During Wildland Fires
Hardening your home
- Fire Wrap and External Sprinkler Systems
- Fire Sensors
- Fire Retardant Spray and Fire Foam
- Fire Gel
- Prepare Homes for Wildfires: Framing
- Prepare Home for Wildfires: Windows
- Well Pressure Tanks and Fire Cisterns
- Water Pumping Systems
- Prepare Home for Wildfires: Fire Bunker
- Prepare Home for Wildfires: Internal Sprinkler System, Computer Backups, Fire Resistant Safe
- Prepare Home for Wildfires: Gutters
- Prepare Home for Wildfires: Enclosed Spaces and Fences
- Prepare Home for Wildfires: Decks
- Prepare Home for Wildfires: Chimneys
- Fire Rating Material for Construction
- New Home Fire Mitigation
- Managing Vents to Prevent Fire
- Fire Resistant Construction Techniques for Colorado Springs Home
- Builder’s Guide to Wildfire Mitigation
Defensible space & fuel reduction
- Wildfire Mitigation Community Projects
- Slash Disposal During Fire Mitigation
- Fire Mitigaiton in Ward
- How to Choose Fire Resistant Plants
- Fuelbreaks and Firebreaks
- Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands and Wildfires
- Planning Firescape
- Fire Prevention and Mitigation in Zone 3
- Designing Zone 2
- Forest Fire Mitigation Strategies for Propane Tank
- Rural Living and Fire Mitigation
- Fire Mitgation for Dead Trees During Drought
- Urban Edge Fire Mitigation
- Tree Thinning for Forest Management
- What Can You Do for the Home to Survive a Wildfire?
- How Do You Mitigate a Wildfire?
- Fire-Adapted Communities
- Community Infrastructure in Wildfire Zone
- Scrub Oak Tree Facts
- Scrub Oak Pruning For Fire Prevention
- Firewise Landscaping and Plant Materials
- Creating Forest Home Wildfire Safety
- Fire Mitigation Checklist
Forest health
- Evaluating and Replanting Trees
- Erosion Control After Wildfire
- Forest Health Issues in Southwest Colorado
- Forest Health Issues in Southeast Colorado
- Forest Health Issues in Northwest Colorado
- Lodgepole Pine Forests and Fires
- Forest Health Issues in Northeast Colorado
- Fire Mitigating Trees Killed By Mistletoe
- Fire Mitigating Beetle Killed Trees
- Ponderosa Pine/Douglas Fir Forests and Wildfires
- Spruce Beetle Remains Most Deadly Forest Pest
- Removing Beetle-Killed Forests
- Forest Life After A Wildfire
- Cheatgrass and Wildfires
How wildfires work
- Wildfire Fire Trucks: Understanding Wildland Firefighting Vehicles
- How Wildfires Are Managed: Firefighting Structure and Response Explained
- Wildfire Management: How Firefighters Plan and Control Fires
- Aerial Firefighting: How Air Tankers Stop Wildfires Before They Spread
- Containment of Fire
- Wildfire Watch
- Fire Behavior
- Extreme Fire Conditions
- Effects of Drought on Wildfires
- Understanding How Wildfires Get Started
- Wind During Wildfires
- Wildfire Danger Ratings
- When Wildfires are Necessary
- Basics of Wildland Fire
- How Wildfires Effect Soil
- Fires in Wetlands
- Fires in Shrublands
- Fires in Grasslands
- Fires in Forests
- Fire as a Management Tool
- Fire and Ecological Succession
- Biotic Responses and Adaptations To Wildfires
- Wildfire Suppression
- Wildfire Detection
- History of Wildfire Policy
- The importance of wildfire ecology
- Understanding Wildfire Components
- Economics of Fire Management Policy
- Wildfires and Human Involvement
- The History of Wildfires
- Wildfires and Atmospheric Effects
- Plant Adaptation and Wildfires
- Ecology of a Wildfire
- Effects of Wildfires on Climate
- Physical Properties of Wildifres
- The Great Peshtigo Fire
- The Benefits Of Wildfires
- Wildfire Components And Types
- Wildfires and Their Causes
- Wildfires in Colorado: A Growing Problem
- 2018 Wildfire Season is Coming!
- Types of Wildfires
- Causes for Increase of Wildfires
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