On Feb. 3, town staff informed the Pagosa Springs Town Council about the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (CWRC), adopted by the Colorado Legislature in July 2025, with the aim “to help enhance community safety and resiliency from wildfires through the adoption of codes and standards,” according to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control’s website.
Town Building Code Official Tim Hatch was on hand to explain to the council the steps the town must take to comply with the new state-mandated code.
Hatch explained that the council would need to formally adopt the code by April 1, and that its implementation would need to begin by July 1.
Planning Manager Owen O’Dell was also at the meeting, showing the council a graph that showed fire frequency in the state of Colorado over the last 30 years has “increased by 82 percent,” from about 10 fires a year in the 1990s to “over 70 fires a year.”
Another graph showed that the total acreage burned has also been increasing, rising by 38 percent from the 1990s to the 2020s.
O’Dell recommended that the council wait to adopt the new code until around the April 1 deadline so that the council, town staff and the larger community would have time to “digest” the new guidelines and have time to prepare for being compliant.
The code will be regulated by a CWRC board, which will consist of 21 voting members “across numerous professions, like fire marshals, building officials, architects and members representing various local governments across the state,” he explained.
The Pagosa Springs Planning Department will be responsible for “defensible space review, including landscaping materials, fencing and decks,” he said.
The code distinguishes properties into “three intensity zones,” with zone one being the closest to a building on a property, he explained, adding that zone one “is intended to not have any combustible materials from plant life, woodchips and anything in between.”
“Zones two and three are a little more flexible on allowances,” he said.
The Planning Department would conduct a “site visit to ensure the landscaping plans meet the intent of the [new] code” before a final certificate of occupancy (CO) would be granted to an applicant for new construction, he explained.
Hatch added that, as the town’s building official, he would be responsible for interpreting and enforcing the new code once it’s adopted, and that he’d have some flexibility.
Hatch explained that existing buildings would not need to change anything to meet the new requirements, but that the new code would be triggered if an owner wants to remodel or replace 25 percent or more of the roof or siding on an existing building.
He explained, for example, if more than 25 percent of a roof or siding is being replaced, then the entire roof or siding would need to come into compliance with the code.
If you are doing less than 25 percent of a roof or siding replacement, “then you don’t have to worry about this code at all,” he said.
For new builds, he explained, the “intensity classifications will determine what the ‘hardening’ is that you have to do.”
“In low-intensity areas,” he said, “you have to do a class 1 hardening … it’s very minimal what you have to do, but in moderate- and high-intensity areas you have to do a class 2 hardening,” adding that there are three intensity zones in the code, but only two hardening classifications.
“It’s very clear that the state is not gonna babysit us,” he said, adding that the code leaves some “flexibility and decision making to local” jurisdictions.
He added, “A lot in this code just makes sense,” adding that it only applies to new construction and “we don’t have to go back on existing homes.”
He added that, while the code mostly applies to new construction, he hopes that the new code will “educate people to do the right thing,” as far as fire mitigation.
Council member Gary Williams expressed concern that the added burden of meeting the new code for new construction might add to the costs of building workforce housing in the community.
Hatch noted that bigger costs would come for “custom” homebuilders, and that for traditional affordable/workforce housing it might add an estimated “5 to 10 percent maximum” to the construction costs.
“It’s really determined by what style of home you’re building,” he said.
Williams expressed that he also hopes that the new code would help educate people to do their part to help mitigate fire hazards, suggesting that the town employ its communications team to get the word out about how to be firewise.
He added he hopes that if people do their part, “we could get rid of all these red zones” in the area depicted on the state fire hazard maps.
Development Director James Dickhoff ended by saying “hopefully we can protect our residential homes so they can survive long into the future.”
derek@pagosasun.com
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