Manitou Springs offers free property assessments to determine wildfire vulnerability
MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The Manitou Springs Fire Department is offering free property assessments to residents who are looking to find out how vulnerable they are to losing their property to a wildfire.
Manitou Springs officials say the city is extremely prone to wildfire and add that implementing basic mitigation to private property could be the difference between a savable property or one lost to wildfire.
With the free assessment, the Manitou Springs Fire Department (MSFD) will visit homes and recommend steps a homeowner can take to reduce their risk of being affected by a wildfire.
"What ends up happening is you get homes with trees that touch the rooftops, trees that are really densely packed, and maybe some are dead and dying," said Drew Mauer, a driver, engineer, and paramedic with the Manitou Springs Fire Department. "A fire can really easily move from those trees to your property or your structure if you're not careful."
The program is available year-round to all Manitou Springs property owners.
"We do essentially a 360 degree look of your house," said Mauer. "We'll walk around and look at the type of vegetation that's at the home, whether it's tall, dead grass, dead trees. We look at what kind of consumables that you have near your home. So propane tanks, wood piles, if you have a wood burning stove. We look at all of that and make sure that your house is at least defensible from a wildland fire."
Property assessments can be requested by Manitou Springs residents by calling the MSFD’s business line at (719) 685-1444.
MSFD has also determined the wildfire risk of every parcel of land in the city, which is available to view on the Manitou Springs Wildfire Risk Portal. The portal breaks down every property in the city from low risk to extreme risk based on several factors, including what the roof and building are made out of, distance to dangerous topography, and defensible space.
"The biggest thing is buying time for the firefighters, so the more mitigation you do, the more defensible space that you've made around your home, the more time it buys us to get to that home," said Mauer.
