During its work session on Tuesday, April 21, the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) heard from Bill Trimarco in regard to two pathways in which property owners may become exempt from the recently adopted Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (CWRC), which the BoCC adopted on March 17 and will begin enforcing on July 1.
Trimarco explained that when dealing with wildfires, the big thing now is being able to separate forest fires from structure fires.
“Forest fires are always gonna happen,” he said, explaining that the “real damage” happens when the fire moves from a forest area into a developed area with homes and other infrastructure.
Trimarco commented that forest fires can’t be stopped from happening, but that communities can be proactive in keeping forest fires from taking out homes.
He explained that building codes became a method more than 100 years ago in preventing massive city fires from breaking out and burning down entire cities, and now the idea is to apply the same method with wildfires.
Trimarco acknowledged that with that, there are some “covenants” coming from the state that everyone may not agree on, “but I will say they are definitely a step in the right direction.”
He was critical of the CWRC for being too much of a “one-size-fits-all” approach, noting that the code needs to be adjustable.
Trimarco mentioned that under the CWRC there are currently two ways that property owners could become exempt from the code.
The first way is through creating a local hazard map.
He explained that the state set up the CWRC based on its map that assesses things like fire probability and intensity of an area.
He noted that local weather patterns, types of fuels in the area, tree canopies, topography and fire occurrence determine the vulnerability of a property.
Under the CWRC there are three levels: low (green), moderate (orange) and high (red).
Trimarco noted that all of Archuleta is in either an orange or red zone.
He explained that there are multiple steps for residents to go through if they want to change the CWRC map, which involve working with a geographic information systems analyst, developing a fire behavior model, and working with a calibration specialist and the local fire authority.
He mentioned that what he’s been told by the Division of Fire Prevention and Control is that if going the map route for an exemption, it would be helpful if there was another map of the area within the Community Wildfire Protection Plan, meaning the local area has a different map than what the CWRC is using.
“In our case, we don’t,” he said, noting that developing a new map may cost up to $1 million and would have to be redone every three years.
“It’s an option — doesn’t look like a real good one to me,” Trimarco said.
The second pathway for exemption Trimarco discussed is the process being referred to as “ground truthing,” which he explained is done on a parcel-by-parcel basis.
He noted that the property owner (or authorized representative), a qualified wildfire professional and the local building official would all need to be involved in this process.
Trimarco mentioned that to get an exemption, property owners will need to show that they have a “better” situation than what is depicted by the CWRC map.
He mentioned that it may be difficult to get a property moved to the “low” category with any trees being on the property.
“Our entire county, everything is in the moderate or high right now,” he said.
He then explained that to go through the ground-truthing process, an owner would submit a request to the local building department and then the building official would engage with a wildfire professional “to go out and do a very in-depth report.”
In response to a question from Commissioner John Ranson, Trimarco indicated that the cost for getting one of these reports done may run around $500.
Trimarco mentioned that the “real tricky” part of this process is that not only does the entire parcel have to meet certain requirements, there also has to be a 300-foot “buffer” around the parcel, meaning that neighboring properties would have to meet the requirements as well.
“Any of the places I’ve seen in this county would have a real hard time meeting that low requirement,” Trimarco said.
Ranson also asked if one of these studies might help property owners in getting insurance.
Trimarco responded that getting a “clean bill of health” doesn’t seem to make a real difference to insurance companies at this point, but that is part of the reason why the CWRC is being pushed by the state.
Trimarco also commented that he’s not a big fan of rules, but that it might be a step in the right direction “if they’re ones that will help us function as a society and keep our losses down, and allow people to get insurance.”
He mentioned that, nowadays, any homeowner with a mortgage is required to have insurance on their property, “and they’re having a hard time.”
He added, “It is really hard to get insurance here.”
Commissioner Veronica Medina explained that the state does not have an exact answer for when the CWRC map would be updated if owners do go through the ground-truthing process to reclassify their property.
“I don’t know if ground truthing is really going to be something that, one, that our constituents should even do and have the expense, because it may not have any effect on their current insurance,” Medina said, noting that it could help in the long run, but as of now the state has no real plan on updating the map.
Commissioner Warren Brown commented that the insurance commission is “incredibly” powerful at the state level and that it can be rather random or arbitrary when the commission designates a fire zone.
“There’s really no rhyme or reason,” he said, adding that fire mitigation work is “certainly important” and that it does make a difference in preventing infrastructure losses.
Trimarco also explained that the state has hired two professional development educators to work with jurisdictions and inform communities about the CWRC and their options.
He noted that the “big thing” with the ground-truthing process is that “it basically runs through the building inspector.”
“It does look pretty complicated,” he added.
Trimarco explained that a workshop is being planned for May 9 at the Colorado State University Extension Office with the Archuleta County sheriff, Pagosa Fire Protection District chief and himself to inform constituents on the matter.
Medina commented that “It’s definitely a hot topic,” as people are reaching out with questions and wanting more information.
“I don’t think the state really understands what it is they implemented,” she said, noting that it is “everchanging.”
Trimarco commented that the CWRC is not perfect, noting Wildfire Adapted Partnership is getting similar calls.
“It’s something we’re gonna have to do if we want to live here and be able to survive here,” he said.
Brown commented that the message from the state could be delivered better, noting that people don’t generally like being told what to do with their own properties, suggesting that if the state was more considerate in its messaging, then it might be received better by the public.
“We all want to be safe,” he said.
clayton@pagosasun.com
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