Elk Falls Ranch
A Firewise Community
Links to Firewise Information:
The Home Ignition Zone - A guide to preparing your home for wildfire and creating defensible space
Colorado State Tax Deduction for Fire Mitigation - $2,500
Firewise Committee:
Dan Mueller - Chair
Firewise
The National Firewise Communities Program is an interagency program designed to encourage local solutions for wildfire safety by involving communities and firefighters in an effort to protect people and property from the risk of wildfire. Firewise is about mitigation and mitigation of your own property and participation in mitigation of your neighbors' property if they need assistance.In 2019 an Elk Falls Ranch Community Wildfire Risk Assessment was completed by the Elk Creek Fire Protection District. We encourage you to read the Risk Assessment. Elk Falls Ranch is considered to be in one of the the highest wildfire risk regions in the country! Mitigation is important and must be ongoing.We are protected by the Elk Creek Fire Protection District (ECFPD) and we have partnered with them in an attempt to influence and reduce our vulnerability. In order to maintain our status with FirewiseUSA, we must submit an annual renewal application. This is done by our Firewise team and is due in November of each year. The application, among other things, requires us to provide the number of labor hours spent by individual property owners as well as money spent on mitigation efforts. Residents should report their hours to our Firewise Committee Chairperson, Dan Mueller at ElkFallsFirewise@gmail.com. The labor hours need to be categorized as time spent on the dwelling unit (ie. time spent cleaning gutters or roof clearing) and time spent on 0 – 100 ft. from the dwelling.) In addition, we need to report the approximate volume of vegetation removed (in cubic yards). So be sure to keep a log of the hours and expenses (with receipts) you incur during the year as you mitigate your property and an estimate of the volume removed. The Firewise Chairperson will then call for those hours, expenses and volume to be reported by the end of October. All of us working together to mitigate our own properties will benefit our entire neighborhood if there should be a wildfire event in our area. We look forward to working together in this community project. EVERYONE in Elk Falls Ranch Subdivision is a member of this Committee and we invite and encourage your participation.
Firewise Certification
When it comes to wildfire, bad things can happen fast. Let’s prevent the best we can.