A few short years ago many residents within the LFPD were fleeing their homes as the monster Hayman Fire raged in the Pike National Forest in the foothills to the west. The smoke column from the Hayman was a fearful site to behold as it loomed over our heads and dropped ash onto our homes. The Hayman was a sign of the times, as were many of the fires in Colorado during the 2002 fire season, and demonstrated what can happen when a fire starts during drought conditions combined with the pervasive overgrown state of the surrounding forests.

The drought has eased up a bit although we are still in below normal moisture conditions. However, the effects of the drought on the forest remain with us and are evident in the increasing number of dead and dying trees. These trees suffered great stress during the early part of the drought cycle and created the perfect opportunity for insect and disease infestations. As the tree mortality continues to add an increasing quantity of dead fuel to the overcrowded forest, this may increase the potential for ignitions, for fire starts to grow in size more rapidly and contribute to more severe fire behavior.

What does all this add up to? The wildland fire threat is still great and do not let the last couple of years of closer to "normal" precipitation lull you into complacency on your wildland fuels reduction effort. Don't wait until the smell of smoke is in the air to try to thin and clean up your wildland fuels! The time to act is now.  Many of you within the LFPD have made great progress on removal of fuels from your property and the LFPD congratulates you on your effort!!! This helps us all to live in a safer community.

For those of you who have yet to start mitigating or are new to the area, the LFPD offers a no cost wildland fuel mitigation assessment for your property. We have trained personnel that will help you analyze the wildfire threat to your home and suggest specific mitigation techniques to help you improve your home's chances of surviving a wildland fire event. You will also receive a package of handout literature that will assist and educate you further on living in the wildland fire environment.