Jefferson County Seeks Input on Community Wildfire Protection Plan and Evacuation Annex

On Sept. 9, Jefferson County began collecting public feedback on updates to the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and the Evacuation Annex (EA) included in the county's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP).

Both the CWPP and EA have been developed with input from multiple county partners and will play a critical role in the county's wildfire and emergency response. The CWPP identifies specific wildland fire risks facing communities, neighborhoods, and other essential values and offers prioritized recommendations to reduce those risks. It is developed in collaboration with state and local governments, local fire departments, federal land management agencies, and other partners. The EA is a plan for how to conduct evacuations for all types of hazards identified in the CEMP.

These documents will:
• Identify and prioritize areas for hazardous fuel reduction treatments based on modeled fire risk, values of concern, and other factors across the county
• Recommend types and methods of treatment for land managers and private homeowners to protect at-risk communities, individual homes, and essential infrastructure.
• Recommend measures to reduce home ignitability throughout at-risk communities
• Recommend and outline county investments and programs to build capacity and expertise to mitigate fire risk, assist community members and partners in wildfire preparedness, and develop county-wide programs to assist landowners in becoming wildfire aware.
• Provide overarching guidance for the development of all-hazard evacuation plans prepared and maintained by local jurisdictions
• Outline strategies, procedure recommendations, and organizational structures that can be used to implement a coordinated evacuation effort.

Public feedback is due Sept. 22. Documents will be posted at TogetherJeffco.com accompanied by a link to the plans on the Emergency Management website.