East Boulder County Individual Home Assessments

The risk of catastrophic wildfire is a real and serious threat.

In many areas, it is not a question of if a wildfire will impact your home, but when. Living in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) comes with new responsibilities and challenges. According to a 2018 Colorado State Forest Service report, 2.9 million people in Colorado are living in areas at risk for wildfire.

We have the opportunity to significantly reduce the potential for property destruction in the WUI, but this opportunity depends on you. By creating and maintaining effective defensible space and retrofitting your home with safer materials, you can make your community safer.

A well-mitigated home gives firefighters the opportunity to do their job more safely. Firefighters will not risk their lives to defend a home that does not have defensible space. Even if firefighters are unable to directly protect your home during a wildfire, implementing effective wildfire mitigation will still increase your home’s chances for survival.

Wildfire mitigation is the implementation of various measures designed to minimize the destructive effects a wildfire has on your property.

Some actions are designed to modify the vegetation around your home that puts it at risk from destruction by a wildfire. Others focus on “hardening” your home to improve its ability to withstand a wildfire without being dependent upon fire suppression resources. Wildfire mitigation increases the chances your home will survive a wildfire. It does not guarantee that it will survive.

All assessments are free.

No. Currently, Wildfire Partners only provides an initial assessment and personalized report in East Boulder County.

We do not provide Wildfire Partners Certificates in East Boulder County because we do not have agreements in place with insurance companies to recognize our certificates as proof of effective mitigation in these areas.

Based on our 2022 pilot project, we determined that education and community mitigation were the best ways to start mitigation efforts in East Boulder County.

Our focus on community mitigation is also the result of the number of homes at risk and the close proximity, or density, of many homes in the east. Based on the science of home ignition, we employ different strategies and approaches for high density communities and low density communities. For high density communities and municipalities in East Boulder County, we offer the Community Mitigation Program (as well as education, rebates, youth services, and chipping). In these areas, we do not offer individual home assessments until residents come together and initiate community mitigation efforts. Please note that the City of Boulder has its own wildfire mitigation programs, and its residents are not eligible for Wildfire Partners community mitigation or home assessment programs.

For low density rural areas in East Boulder County, we offer the Individual Home Assessment Program (as well as education, rebates, youth services and chipping) given that residents in these areas may not be eligible for our Community Mitigation Program.

Defensible space is usually categorized by zones.

For the Wildfire Partners program, we look at Zones 1A, 1 and 2. Zone 1A is the first 5 feet around the foundation of your home. Zone 1 extends 30 feet out from your home, and Zone 2 is up to 100 feet out.

Wildfire Partners can provide two types of financial assistance to help defray the costs of removing vegetation (trees, shrubs, and grasses). 

Standard awards and need-based assistance are both available to applicants. Standard awards are 50% of Wildfire Partners Forestry Contractor costs up to $2,000 max.

Need-based assistance is available to those on limited incomes to cover additional costs beyond $2000. If you have previously qualified for a government program that uses formal income criteria for acceptance, there is a good chance you will qualify for need-based assistance from Wildfire Partners. If you can formally document your need, then you should check “Yes” for the Additional Financial Assistance question and apply here.

You are not required to use our forestry contractors. Homeowners are free to do all the work themselves or part of the work themselves.

Many homeowners choose to do all the priority and recommended work themselves.

You also have the option to do some of the vegetation removal yourself and hire a forestry contractor for the rest. You should do your part of the work before getting a bid from a forestry contractor. Contractors are not allowed to give piece-meal bids.

If you hire someone who is not on our approved forestry contractor list, you are not eligible for financial awards through Wildfire Partners.

If your hire a forestry contractor, they are responsible for disposal of your slash and wood. To keep some wood for personal use, let them know ahead of time.

If you do the work yourself, there are options for getting rid of the slash and wood. Many homeowners like to keep cut logs to use for firewood or make it available to neighbors. Slash — trees and limbs less than 6 inches in diameter – may be chipped through our free community chipping program or taken to the county sort yard. The county also issues burn permits that can be used in the winter when conditions allow.

Sort yards are located in Nederland and Allenspark and are open May – October.

Western Disposal will also accept yard waste materials for a fee.

Your Wildfire Mitigation Specialist will work with you to identify the vulnerabilities in your home’s construction and provide you solutions.

The topography, building materials, and other factors influence your home’s vulnerability to ignition. Sometimes, simple actions such as caulking or adding flashing can mitigate risk. Installing a noncombustible barrier around the foundation is a priority. Every home differs, so the actions needed will vary.