http://www.ecola.com/go/?f=&r=co&u=www.denverpost.com

headline:

Foresight saved Durango homes
'01 fire plan paid off in '02
By Electa Draper
Denver Post Four Corners Bureau

Monday, February 17, 2003 - DURANGO - Many of those who live in Los
Ranchitos are still amazed their houses are standing.
------------------------

Post / Shaun Stanley
George and Aurora Rose's promotion of fire prevention helped save
their Durango subdivision from the Missionary Ridge fire.
Last year's catastrophic Missionary Ridge fire roared through the
thick woods and nibbled at the edges of this mountainside subdivision.
Unlike neighboring settlements, though, Los Ranchitos made it through
without losing one of its 33 houses.
----------------------------------------

Residents can, in large part, thank themselves.

Long before the firestorm, the people of Los Ranchitos had done
something that was almost as unusual as it was smart, according to
Colorado State Forest Service forester Dan Ochocki.

Residents asked Ochocki to assess the health of their forest. Rarer
still, they listened and took action when he told them back in 2001 to
get rid of some trees and brush - something fire-prone neighborhoods
throughout Colorado should do, he says.

Los Ranchitos homeowner Aurora Rose says she remembers her fateful
conversation with Ochocki: "He took a deep breath and said, 'If I were
you, I'd really be worried about fire."'

So she and her husband, George, and neighbor Lynn Sutherland, formed a
fire prevention committee to explore a subdivisionwide approach,
including tree-thinning and evacuation plans.

"More and more people started jumping in," Aurora Rose says.
Eventually, about two-thirds of the property owners participated.

The group got a 50-50 matching grant for $12,000. Such federal grants
are available through the state Forest Service for landowners and for
some subdivisions where enough homeowners agree to participate in
thinning.

However, the competition for grants is stiffening as awareness
increases, Ochocki says.

"I wouldn't want anyone to wait or count on government help to do the
right thing for their property," Ochocki says.

For fiscal year 2002-03, southwestern Colorado property owners
received $54,700 of a $2.4 million statewide pool, Colorado State
Forest Service Fire Division supervisor Rich Homann says. Homann, like
Ochocki, urges homeowners not to rely on grants. ... (cont)

(Donald L Ferrt) wrote in message . com...
http://www.ecola.com/go/?f=&r=co&u=www.denverpost.com

headline:

Foresight saved Durango homes
'01 fire plan paid off in '02
By Electa Draper
Denver Post Four Corners Bureau

Monday, February 17, 2003 - DURANGO - Many of those who live in Los
Ranchitos are still amazed their houses are standing.
------------------------

Post / Shaun Stanley
George and Aurora Rose's promotion of fire prevention helped save
their Durango subdivision from the Missionary Ridge fire.
Last year's catastrophic Missionary Ridge fire roared through the
thick woods and nibbled at the edges of this mountainside subdivision.
Unlike neighboring settlements, though, Los Ranchitos made it through
without losing one of its 33 houses.
----------------------------------------

Residents can, in large part, thank themselves.

Long before the firestorm, the people of Los Ranchitos had done
something that was almost as unusual as it was smart, according to
Colorado State Forest Service forester Dan Ochocki.

Residents asked Ochocki to assess the health of their forest. Rarer
still, they listened and took action when he told them back in 2001 to
get rid of some trees and brush - something fire-prone neighborhoods
throughout Colorado should do, he says.

[snip]

Such preventative measures do help. But they are not fool-proof. Case
in point: the Metolius River/Black Butte fire of Oregon last year. In
the Three Rivers subdivision near Lake Billy Chinook, property owners
including some I know personally, had already thinned and pruned and
de-shrubbed their land.

When fire is pushed by a 30-40 mph wind, there is darn little that can
be done to protect property short of metal siding and roofing _and_
fire-proof areas from a considerable distance around the homes.

Thinning and pruning and removal of shrubs which can carry fire from
the ground into trees is certainly a good beginning. But if you place
your home in an area where fire is and important part of the
landscape, you may get burned no matter what.

Daniel B. Wheeler
www.oregonwhitetruffles.com