A project aimed at preventing wildfires was approved by the Boulder County Commissioners Tuesday with the help of a $1.2 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
The program calls for the creation of defensible space on 600 properties and hazardous fuels reduction in 20 properties in the county. All participating residents will also join the county’s wildfire mitigation group, Wildfire Partners, which provides education and promotes comprehensive mitigation efforts throughout the county, according to a staff report to the commissioners.
A Wildfire Partners Team will recruit homeowners to apply for the program and the homeowners will participate in a home assessment of wildfire dangers, the report states.
Wildfire mitigation specialists will mark vegetation for removal in defensible space zones on the selected properties and develop individual, parcel specific treatment prescriptions to reduce hazardous fuels, the report states.
FEMA awarded the funding to Boulder County in 2019. Boulder County provided over $405,000 in matching funds for a total project cost of $1.6 million, the report states.
