New wildfire management plan underway in El Paso County

El Paso County authorities are beginning a new wildfire management plan to help slow the spread of future fires, starting with areas where two major fires burned last year.

They began in the Midway area behind the Pikes Peak International Raceway where the Carson-Midway Fire burned last spring.

On Wednesday, authorities used heavy machinery to dig a 1.6-mile firebreak on county-owned land.

The break allows firefighters better access to rough terrain and creates specific areas to guide the fire response.

“We had issues with that during the Carson-Midway Fire and the 117 Fire last year,” said Hanover Fire Chief Carl Tatum. “Doing this will also improve communication and cooperation among responding agencies.”

The firebreak is in a strategically important area bordered by Interstate 25, the Pioneer Village neighborhood, Fort Carson, and Colorado Springs Utilities.

“It’s also near the county’s public shooting range,” Tatum said. “Several fires have started there.”

Digging firebreaks before a fire is fairly common throughout the Western U.S., but this is the first time agencies have joined forces to do it in El Paso County.

“I see both sides of it,” said Breton Johnson, a nearby homeowner. “Some people might prefer that the land remain undisturbed because that’s what they like about living here. But I say that if it helps protect homes during a fire, go for it.”

Authorities agree that the plan makes sense. So what took them so long to start it?

“The political climate didn’t allow it until now,” said Jim Schanel, the county’s deputy fire marshal. “After those fires, we actually sat down over a cup of coffee and talked about how we could improve. And fire management costs money, so you have to justify how you’re spending it.”

Schanel said another factor is that Colorado, unlike most western states, doesn’t have a state fire marshal, leaving the responsibility of wildfire management to county sheriff’s offices.

The county hopes to dig more firebreaks across the county in the future and increase the use of controlled burns to reduce excess fuel that could worsen a wildfire.

Fort Carson, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado Springs Utilities, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Hanover Fire Department are partners in the new cooperative effort.