When Summit County voters passed Ballot Measure 1A in 2018, it effectively dedicated public funds to five different buckets: early childhood care, behavioral health programs, fire mitigation, recycling and public infrastructure. As of January, the.
Photo by Sawyer D Argonne / sdargonne@summitdaily.com
Wildfire season continues to creep closer, evidenced by the hazy skies that emerged over Summit County on Tuesday, June 8, as smoke from fires burning around Colorado and the Southwest drifted overhead.
By now, Summit County residents should be well prepared, hopefully having taken the past few months to create defensible space around homes and ready evacuation kits in order to leave the area at a moment’s notice. But for those responsible for pets and livestock, there’s more to think about than just getting themselves out of the house safely.
“Wildfires have no boundaries,” said Sam Kirk, director of the Livestock Emergency Preparedness Program with the Friends of the Lower Blue River. “The professional wildfire fighting community is aware of that, and because of the predictions this year, they are trying to awaken people to be prepared both for their structures and their lives but also any of their defenseless anima
Michael Elizabeth Sakas/CPR News
Schelly Olson, the assistant chief for Grand Fire, stands among all that remains of her Grand Lake home on Nov. 13, 2020 after it burned down in the East Troublesome fire last year. Nov. 13, 2020.
As Schelly Olson walked around the charred rubble of what was her Grand Lake home, she pointed to a pile of things that survived the second-largest wildfire in state history.
“You can see my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law piled all of my silver from my grandmother,” Olson said. “We just kind of did some digging, and all the silver was right around here. This is the dining room area.”