Though snow weighs upon the mountains after this week’s storms, wildland firefighters remain diligent in their preparation for the future.
Western Vegetation Management/Courtesy photo
Though snow weighs upon the mountains after this week’s storms, wildland firefighters remain diligent in their preparation for the future.
Roaring Fork Fire Rescue Marshall John Mele presented to the Snowmass Environmental Advisory Board on Tuesday about the improved mitigation measures they took this past year after receiving increased funding.
“They really came out this year and supported us in a big way,” Mele said, referring to Snowmass and their increased funding of wildfire mitigation.
The town increased its budget for wildfire mitigation from $15,000 in 2023 to $100,000 in 2024. The increased funding from the town was split between Roaring Fork Fire Rescue and other fire mitigation agencies that operate in the valley, according to Assistant Town Manager Greg LeBlanc.
They allotted an additional $40,000 to the Roaring Fork Valley Wildfire Collaborative, the Aspen Fire Department, and other agencies to implement wildfire cameras and uphold membership fees, according to LeBlanc.
Mele said, this year, they’ve worked to improve protection around homes and infrastructure in Snowmass.
Most fires spread through fire brands, which are airborne embers that can travel a half mile or mile from the fire source, he said. They work to educate people about ember recognition and how to manage their property against wildfires. Fire is less likely to spread to buildings or homes if there is no brush around the structures, he said.
“There are many studies that suggest that if we just take care of that first five feet, your success rate of surviving a wildfire is immensely improved,” Mele said.
He said they also focused on disrupting continuity of fuel, so fires cannot spread as easily through the town and the surrounding landscape. By strategically clearing brush they can mitigate fire spread while keeping most of the natural landscape intact.
“By no means is this clearcutting,” Mele said. “It’s what we call a thin and clumping method.”
He said natural paths through town may also disrupt the continuity of fuel. With the funding, they worked to maintain trails and clear brush or dead wood that may connect a fire from one side of a trail to the other.
They also work to mitigate crown fires — or fires that spread through treetops.
“The most destructive of wildfires are crown fires,” Mele said. “Even aerial intervention when it comes to wildfire suppression — it’s severely hampered when it becomes crown fires.”
To mitigate these fires, they remove dead trees and tall brush, so fire cannot spread upward to the treetops, he said.
Environmental Advisory Board member Andrew Wickes asked how the board might help the agencies’ wildfire mitigation efforts in the future.
Mele said he wanted the board to know the agencies remain cognisant of the environment during wildfire mitigation.
“I want you to realize that we’re not only doing vegetation management,” he told the board. “But we’re also making sure that we don’t ruin that wildlife aspect.”
He said they will leave a couple dead trees per acre while they manage the vegetation because various ground animals rely on them.
He added he hopes they will advocate for the agencies and advise the town to provide the agencies with more funding because their work is starting to get done on a larger scale.
“We’re making some very good progress with our infrastructure and (in) the homes and the single family area,” Mele said. “That’s where we need the support — is we need the environmental board to continue to say, ‘Hey, what Roaring Fork Fire is doing out there is, we think it’s good. We think we would like you to support it some more.'”
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.