Sunshine Fire Protection District CWPP (2013)
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COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN SUNSHINE FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT 2013 Table of Contents Page Stakeholders’ Signature Page . .. 4 Acronyms. 5 Table of Figures & Maps . 6 Introduction . 7 Section 1.0 Fire History . 9 Section 2.0 Area of Study . 11 Section 3.0 Fire District Hazard Assessment . 19 3.1 Neighborhood Accessibility . 19 3.2 Home Construction . 20 3.3 Defensible Space . 20 3.4 Fire Behavior . 21 3.5 Additional Hazard . 26 3.6 Community Mitigation Recommendations . 26 Section 4.0 Creating an Effective Defensible Space . 28 Section 5.0 Habitat Effectiveness & Environmental Resources . 30 Section 6.0 Community Education & Involvement. 31 Section 7.0 Neighborhood Hazard Evaluations . 32 7.1 Dry Gulch . 34 7.2 Bald Mountain . 37 7.3 Meadows . 41 7.4 Pilot . 45 7.5 Town Site . 48 7.6 Ingram . 52 Section 8.0 Recommendations – Solutions and Mitigations. 56 8.1 Community Fire Mitigation Programs . 56 8.2 Fuel Breaks Along District Roads . 57 8.3 Community Egress Routes . 58 8.4 SFPD Fuel Breaks/Fire Lines . 68 8.5 Emergency Notification System . 74 8.6 Road Signage. 75 8.7 Emergency Water Sources. 75 8.8 Heliports. 76 8.9 Urban Wildland Interface Fire Code. 77 8.10 Fire Department Administration and Training. 78 8.11 Education . 78 8.12 Reevaluation and Maintenance . 79 Section 9.0 CWPP Accomplishments . 80 2 APPENDICES Appendix A: Home Hazard Assessment Questionnaire. 83 Notes on Home Hazard Questionnaire . 87 Appendix B: CWPP Stakeholders and Task Force Members . 90 Appendix C: Task Force meeting schedule and community outreach events. 92 Appendix D: Ballot Initiative 5A . 93 Appendix E: Example Documents . 94 Sunshine Community Letter: September 2007 . 94 Property Evaluation Door Hanger Fall 2007 . 95 Community Meetings Invitation: Spring 2008 . 96 Neighborhood Meetings AGENDA Spring 2008 . 97 New Reflective Signs in the District Announcement . 98 Letter Sent to 2009 Mitigation Project Participants . 99 2009 Sunshine FPD Fire Mitigation Project LANDOWNER AGREEMENT . 100 Spring 2011 License to Enter . 101 Community Chipping Days 2012 . 105 Appendix F: Fourmile Canyon Fire Findings Fact Sheet . 106 Appendix G: Fourmile Canyon Fire Burn Severity Map . 107 3 Sunshine Fire Protection District Community Wildlife Protection Plan Stakeholders Signature Page _________________________________________ ___________________ Steve Waltman, Fire Chief, Sunshine Fire Protection Date District (SFPD) _________________________________________ ___________________ Abby Silver, SFPD CWPP Coordinator Date _________________________________________ ___________________ Alan Kirton, CWPP Task Force Coordinator Date _________________________________________ ___________________ James Webster, Community Wildfire Protection Plan Date Planner, Boulder County _________________________________________ ___________________ Allen Owen, District Forester, Colorado State Forest Date Service _________________________________________ ___________________ Ed Skerjanec, Fire Mitigation Specialist, USDI Bureau of Date Land Management, Front Range Interagency Fire Staff 4 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Wildfire Terms Acronyms and Abbreviations BLM United States Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management CSFS Colorado State Forest Service CWPP Community Wildfire Protection Plan FEST Fourmile Emergency Stabilization Team FPD Fire Protection District FWS United States Fish and Wildlife Service GIS Geographic Information System GPS Global Positioning System HFI Healthy Forest Initiative HIZ Home Ignition Zone HFRA Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 ISO Insurance Services Organization SCD Sunshine Canyon Drive SFPD Sunshine Fire Protection District SRCA Southern Rockies Conservation Alliance USFS United States Forest Service WUI Wildland-Urban Interface Wildfire Terms Crown Fire Fire that advances from top to top of trees or shrubs more or less independent of a surface fire. Home Ignition The home with its immediate surroundings (about 100-150 feet from the structure) Zone Ladder Fuels Flammable vegetation that helps a ground fire move into the canopy. Also includes low hanging branches in trees that can ignite due to a ground fire. Surface Fire Fire that burns loose debris on the surface, which include grasses, dead branches, downed timber, leaves, and low vegetation Torching Fire Fire when a single or small group of trees "torch" or go up in flames; most often caused by a ground fire and the presence of ladder fuels. 5 Table of Figures and Maps Figures: Page Figure 1: Hazard Rating Scale . 19 Figure 2: Interaction of Weather, Topography, and Fuels to Create the Fire Environment . 21 Figure 3: Suggested Practices for Dealing With Dead Vegetation . 28 Figure 4: Six Steps to Create Defensible Space. 29 Figure 5: Neighborhood & Hazard Ratings. 32 Maps: Map 1: Property Map . 12 Map 2: Historic Sites. 13 Map 3: Ecological Values . 14 Map 4: Aspect . .. 15 Map 5: Slope. .. 16 Map 6: Vegetation Cover . 17 Map 7: SFPD Neighborhoods . 18 Map 8: Dry Summer SE Wind Fire Model . 23 Map 9: Dry Summer East Wind Fire Model . 24 Map 10: Dry Autumn West Wind Fire Model . 25 Map 11: Neighborhood Evaluations . 33 Map 12: Dry Gulch Neighborhood . 34 Map 13: Bald Mountain Neighborhood . 37 Map 14: Meadows Neighborhood . 41 Map 15: Pilot Neighborhood . 45 Map 16: Town Site Neighborhood . 48 Map 17: Ingram Neighborhood . 52 Map 18: Proposed Egress Routes SFPD . 59 Map 19: Mine Lane Egress . 60 Map 20 Glendale Gulch Egress . ..