Firewise Maps & References
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As a Firewise Community, Douglass Ranch is highly dedicated to lowering its risk to wildfire through fire mitigation.
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Maps, references and other resource are available to property owners community-wide. Check out Firewise maps and informational downloads
Informational Downloads
A superabundance of Firewise and mitigation-related articles are available on the web. The following websites are suggested starting points.
Often there is no one source of information that is the 'go-to' reference: it pays to read from multiple sources.
That said, the following set of articles are recommended as introductory reads.
Wildland Fire Action Guide. Defensible Space. Making Your Home Fire Resistant. Plan each stage of Ready, Set, Go.
LookoutAlert is the official emergency notification system of the regional collaborative of Jefferson County and all cities within it. Through LookoutAlert, emergency responders are able to provide emergency and public safety messages to residents.
A defensible space homeowner checklist (one of many on the internet).
A new home / structure in the mountains requires meeting JeffCo wildfire regulation via a Wildfire defensible space permit and a State Forest Service site check. The referenced standards to meet are described in the Colorado State University’s Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet 6.302. While this publication is now discontinued, its update is CSFS Defensible Space Quick Guide.
A JeffCo county level CWPP with Elk Creek Fire Department specific recommendations (including one Douglass Ranch specific recommendation).
CSU Extension offers a number of fact sheets:
CSFS has a number of pamphlets:
Videos & Article
Uploaded 2008
Jack Cohen, USDA Forest Service
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A wildland environment is a fire environment. Fire in wildland urban areas is inevitable.
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The steps we need to take to protect our homes are surprisingly simple.
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Crown fires greater than 100 feet away cannot provide enough radiant heat to ignite structures.Crown fires don't last long enough in a given location to ignite a house.
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Home Ignition Zone.
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Firebrand threat.
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Homeowner's must take responsibility for home protection.
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We don't need to completely rebuild our homes or re-landscape our yards.
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Preparation must begin long before smoke appears on the horizon.
Uploaded 2011
Ron Hazleton
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You can protect your home before a wildfire.
Wildfire threats:
burning embers
open eaves, vents, windows,
direct fire contact.
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Firefighters protect people first, property second.
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Your home and surrounding structures should be able to survive independently of the fire department services. Responsibility is on the homeowner to protect their property.
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Firewise construction techniques.
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Choose a firewise location for your new home.
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Design & build a firewise structure.
roofing,
walls,
windows,
vents,
decks, porches, fences.
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Firewise landscaping and Maintenance
Uploaded 2011
Firewise modifications to a home and its surrounding property. Video discusses and illustrates in detail each stage of the landscaping and construction renovations of the home to meet Firewise criteria including types of vegetation, placement and thinning as well as construction elements such as noncombustible roof, siding, windows, and fencing.
Published 2015
Dr. Jack Cohen, Fire Science Researcher with the USDA Forest Service, explains current research about how homes ignite during wildfires, and the actions that homeowners can take to help their home survive the impacts of flames and embers. Featuring footage from the IBHS Research Center showing ember experiments on full-scale structures, this primer helps explain the basic steps to protect homes, and shows where to find more information.
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Homeowners can prevent houses from igniting during a wildfire by changing conditions of the house and its immediate surroundings.
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High intensity flames more than 100 feet away from house are largely incapable of igniting a house directly.
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Fire brands (embers) are most responsible for home ignition.
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A look at fuel sources on and close to a home.