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Home My WebLink AboutFires on Open SpaceFrom:Alan Delamere To:OSBT-Web Cc:jan.burton111@gmail.com; "Rob Kaplan"; Bart@AxiomAction.com; hrbucher@comcast.net Subject:Fires on Open Space Date:Wednesday, March 4, 2026 9:39:03 AM Attachments:Elements of a Fire Action Plan.pptx Boulder"s next fire.msg External Sender Notice This email was sent by an external sender. OSBT, In Feb 2025 we presented a PowerPoint to you called Elements of a Fire Action Plan. We are attaching a copy. Since then we have been trying to get an action plan from Dan Burke with minimal success. In slide 7 we outlined OSMP staff responsibility’s possible range of actions. The Open Space portion of the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) is full of fire fuel. See attached photo of one area. We recommend that you all do what Alan did recently and take a stroll around Red Rocks following Silver Ditch. Maybe you will become as alarmed as we are and demand OSMP action as high priority. A couple of years ago Alan walked the Sanitas Valley with a senior OSMP manager and they both concluded that cleaning up the fire fuel was a massive job. Since then the fire fuel situation has got worse because of wind damage to the trees. Our current fire mitigation policy only addresses the urban area in an advisory manner. We need a city policy that has code restrictions that will minimize destruction of city areas. It should start with fire fuel reduction. OSBT should take the lead by instructing OSMP to make fire fuel elimination its number one priority. Jan Burton and Bart Windrum, in Camera Opinion pieces, have also expressed concern about wildfires that you should be aware of. We have just submitted an opinion piece to the Camera detailing some specific actions. Also attached. Sincerely, Alan Delamere and Hans Bucher Virus-free.www.avg.com From:Alan Delamere To:openforum@dailycamera.com Subject:Boulder"s next fire Boulders Next Big Fire??? Is the City ready for our next fire? My answer is no so here is the current situation. The fire will be initiated by either lightning, people or discharge from downed high voltage electric lines. Xcel have established a legally sound policy of disconnecting our power and tolerating the complaints of its customers. The City’s fire mitigation policy is to establish a web site that tells property owners how to fire proof their property. This is excellent advice for property in the urban area of the “Wildland/URBAN Interface “(WUI). The policy does not address the Wildland areas i.e our OPEN SPACE; or define the actual area of the WUI. In John Vaillant’s book “Fire Weather “, he shows that for a moderate wind secondary fires can be ignited 400 yards downwind of the fire front and for a strong wind 1000 yards downwind. Our own experience with the Marshall Fire, secondary fires destroyed homes in Louisville from embers crossing a massive fire break –US36. This suggests that our WUI zone should be a width of 800 yards, plus 400 yards for Urban and minus 400 yards for wildland for starting fire mitigation discussion. Viewing the Marshall fire on TV, many of us saw exploding coniferous trees in Louisville. In “Fire Weather” Vaillant describes exploding houses. Modern houses are filled with deadly fire fuel, cushions, mattresses, curtains and carpets that contribute to the explosion. Did any houses explode in the Marshall fire? Our beautiful Open Space is full of fire fuel – tall, dry grasses, downed timber and coniferous trees. See photo of the south ridge on Red Rocks. Our urban zone is full of coniferous trees and shingle roofs on buildings, visit Knollwood for an extreme example. The shingle roofs contain a lot of tar that can be ignited by big embers. Our fire migration plan needs to address all these fire fuel sources. Here is a possible, suggested mitigation plan for initial discussions. Open Space a. Tall grasses to be removed ASAP within 100 yards of the WUI boundary and to be removed every year. Controlled burn may be possible in some areas. b. Ground level sticks and logs need to be removed as the OS highest priority. In two areas I have looked at – the entrance to the Sanitas Valley and the south ridge of Red Rocks, the task looks huge. This is the product of 55 years of neglect since we took over ownership of Open Space. Although OSMP has a staff of 130 people, there are only a handful of rangers. This is a community problem and needs a community effort to clean up our Open Space. How about a “Picking Up Sticks Day” with all of OSMP staff and members of our community picking up sticks. c. Coniferous trees to be removed 400 yards from the WUI boundary over a 5 year period. 2. Urban a. All roofs within 400 yards of the WUI boundary shall be converted to fire proof material at their normal renewal time of 20 to 40 years. b. All homes within 400 yards of the WUI boundary shall be inspected for fire insurance compliance every 5 years c. Evergreen bushes and trees within 400 yards of the WUI boundary shall be removed in stages – year 1 within 100 yards of the WUI boundary, year 2 within 200 yards of the WUI boundary, year 5 within 400 yards of the WUI boundary d. If citizens see the city taking clean up of Open Space seriously it will encourage them to do the same. We do not want to see a fire entering Boulder, therefore, we urge Council to initiate a thorough review of our fire mitigation strategies. Alan Delamere Hans Bucher 525 Mapleton Ave 3890 Table Mesa Drive Alan has lived in Boulder since 1967, designing and flying space science instruments and missions, and was a fire volunteer for the fire at the bottom of the First Flatiron in about 1970. Hans has lived in Boulder since 1967. He designed and manufactured IR cameras until retirement. Elements of a Fire Action Plan Hans Bucher & Alan Delamere 2/18/2025 1 Fire fuel removal per Fire Marshal •Coniferous trees •Trim all lower branches to head height •Remove all burnable vegetation below trees •Grass, dead wood and bushes •Clear cut trees to lower density •Controlled burns 2 OSMP boundaries •XX miles with City residents •YY miles with County •ZZ miles with Forest service •Clear 10 yards on OSMP to meet fire marshals requirements (xx+yy+zz)* 1760*10 sq yards •Once OSMP boundary is cleared request neighbors to do the same thing •Change city code to enforce on city side of Boundary •Get commissioners to ensure County side og Boundery is cleared •Approach Forest Service to get their action 3 Irrigation ditches •?? miles of ditches on OSMP •?? Miles of in city •Clear combustible material on a few 100yard sections on OSMP to determine effort •Particularly in an west-east direction 4 What will it cost? •Clear a few 100 yard sections to determine manpower effort •Calculate how much can be done each year using existing OSMP workforce •Find resources to complete the job •Private property enforcement •If an owner does not have the resources to do the work, have OSMP do it for him. We expect the cost to be horrifyingly large and the sooner the truth is known the better 5 Monitoring the boundary on receipt of a fire alert •Have OSMP staff walk the boundary •How long does it take to walk the Boundary? •Measure a few sections •Take the high ground & go to key monitoring points and observe the Boundary •Mountain tops and ridges •Set up communications from these points back to Fire HQ 6 OSMP staff responsibility •With a fire alert every member of the OSMP staff should be informed and know what to do •Range of actions •Wait for instructions •Go out into the field and …… •Set up the communincations network •Do nothing •etc 7 FIRE Alerts •These are available from the National Weather Service but the County claims not to pass them on to OSMP despite Dan Burke’s statement •A member of OSMP should be monitoring the NWS alerts •It is easy to make you own forecast from the following site https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?w0=t&w1=td&w2=wc&w3=sfcwind&w3u=1&w4=sky&w5=pop&w6=rh&w7=rain&w8=thunder&w9=snow&w10=fzg&w11=sleet&w13u=0&w16u=1&w17u=1&pqpfhr=6&psnwhr=6&AheadHour=48&FcstType=graphical&textField1=40.0203&textField2=-105.2897&site=all&unit=0&dd=&bw=&BackDay.x=32&BackDay.y=9 8 Make your own forecast Temperature Wind & Gusts Humidity Rain Snow 9 Actions suggested •Calculate distance numbers •Clear a number of areas to determine cost • Alert city manager and Council of the magnitude of the problem 10