FOREST LAKES – Chain saws, fire trucks and Smokey Bear were all there Saturday at the Wildfire Adapted Partnership’s community preparedness day event at Forest Lakes. More than 100 people showed up to the subdivision for a chain saw safety lesson, a home hardening workshop and other information on fire mitigation resources.
The event focused on practical lessons, said Ryan Cook, coordinator for Wildfire Adapted Partnership in eastern La Plata County. In one workshop, a group of attendees were walked around a Forest Lakes Metropolitan District building as Cook and Upper Pine River Fire Protection District Wildland Coordinator Paul Valdez pointed out specific examples of how the building had been prepped in case of fire.
Long driveways with overhead brush create a significant hazard for firefighters, Valdez explained.
“If we don’t feel safe, we’re not going to commit an engine there,” he said.
Tom and Catherine Peters moved to Timberdale Ranch, a development east of Durango, three months ago, to be “closer to nature.” They attended the workshop hoping to learn what they need to do to prepare their home.
“We're trying to understand what the risks are and be smart about it,” Tom said. “… We've been asking a lot of stupid questions, but we’re getting a lot of smart answers.”
Staff from the San Juan National Forest had a booth at the event, in part, to spread word of a 600-acre cross-boundary fuels project that will take place above the subdivision. The federal and state forest services are working with the Bureau of Land Management to reduce hazardous fuels directly behind Forest Lakes.
Despite the logging truck that will haul fuels out from the Grass Mountain Shared Stewardship project through the neighborhood, the public was largely pleased to learn about the project, said SJNF spokeswoman Lorena Williams.
“Missionary Ridge burned right up to the backside of Forest Lakes,” she said. “I think the people that have a longer term memory here understand the threat.”
The contract for the project will be awarded this summer and thinning operations are expected to continue into 2025.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
A previous version of this story contained an incorrect last name for Ryan Cook.
