Summit County leaders are already preparing for what they believe is an inevitable wildfire season in Colorado, following a winter defined by record-low snowpack and unusually dry conditions.
Summit County Commissioner Eric Mamula warned that the concern is no longer hypothetical.
“It’s not if, it’s when,” Mamula said, referencing what leaders at Red White and Blue Fire told him at a recent meeting. “We will have fires this summer, it will happen. We just need to be ready for it. You can’t be lax about it.”
That urgency prompted the county to bring together fire departments, law enforcement, and state and federal partners to begin planning now, before any fire starts, for the first of two community meetings, sorting out how each partner will work together when things get tough.
“We’re looking at historic drought levels, a historic lack of snow, a potentially historic fire season here in Summit County,” Mamula said.
Part of that planning includes working through real-world complications, such as major construction projects that impact affect evacuations.
“We have roads closed, Swan Mountain Road will be closed for the majority of the summer,” Mamula said. “We need to work through things like evacuation plans.”
