News

As the calendar flips to May, the arrival of Wildfire Community Preparedness Day and Wildfire Awareness Month serves as a poignant reminder for Coloradans. In a state where living with wildfire has become a year-round reality, proactive measures are essential to mitigate risks and safeguard communities against the growing threat of wildfires. Spearheaded by the… learn more >

By: Lisa Hatfield and Lara Thomas Wouldn’t it be great to have more everyday people encouraging their neighbors to make their properties safer and more resilient to wildfire? How can we effectively convey to more Colorado residents that “mitigation is a lifestyle”? That’s the goal of the Spring 2024 FACO Wildfire Neighborhood Ambassador Orientation for volunteers.… learn more >

Byline: Poudre Canyon FPD contributor, Maya Daurio As wildfires increase in size, severity, and frequency, more and more communities across Colorado will experience wildfire, smoke from wildfires, and post-wildfire flooding. The upper Cache la Poudre Canyon community in northern Colorado, a rural, unincorporated area in the Poudre Canyon Fire Protection District, was severely impacted by… learn more >

Ellis Thompson Grand Junction Fire & Two Rivers Wildfire Coalition This Annual Report highlights 2023 as a year of growth and service by Fire Adapted Colorado. In this report: Learn how network participation has rapidly expanded and review participants’ expressions of the impacts of engagement on their local wildfire resilience work. Get a snapshot of… learn more >

The Fire Adapted Colorado Wildfire Resilience Opportunity Fund played a crucial role in supporting participants within the FACO network again in 2023. With the support of BLM Colorado, Colorado State Forest Service, and the Argosy Foundation, microgrants were offered to spur member projects, fill critical funding gaps, and accomplish projects that benefit beyond a specific… learn more >

With an emphasis on prescribed fire, The Ember Alliance, Fire Adapted Colorado, and the Colorado Prescribed Fire Council, with funding support from the US DOI Bureau of Land Management, have just published a web-based resource for a Smoke Ready Colorado. The web-based campaign provides resources to protect yourself when there is smoke in the air,… learn more >

Themes from the Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Workshop in Santa Fe, NM Rebecca Samulski, Executive Director Fire Adapted Colorado The 6th annual National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Workshop took place in Santa Fe, NM, in November, drawing over 300 participants from across North America. Notably, 27 of Colorado’s wildfire resilience leaders from organizations such as… learn more >

Fire Adapted Colorado is seeking a motivated fundraiser and grant writer to serve as a Development Director and to become part of our team that helps Coloradans navigate wildfire resilience now and into the future. This role will require a passion for FACO’s mission, fundraising, grant writing expertise, and the ability to assist a diverse… learn more >

Byline: FACO Training & Network Specialist Lara Thomas I found myself amid the bustling Sustaining Colorado Watersheds Conference poster session amongst a myriad of engaging presentations on watershed conservation issues, each vying for attention when I encountered Lauren Magliozzi (PhD Candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder, Environmental Engineering Program), whose nontraditional approach immediately captured… learn more >

It’s an understatement to simply say that social dynamics are a critical part of fire management, and one aspect critical to improving outcomes is understanding how internal organizational factors interact with external social factors. As wildfire resilience leaders, our interactions with the public are one way we tell the story, offering us an opportunity to… learn more >

“Community resilience is the sustainability of a community to use available resources to respond to, withstand and recover from adverse situations.” (Wikipedia) “To withstand” wildfires and other disasters and become a truly resilient Colorado requires a paradigm shift. It requires engagement in risk reduction at all levels. National Level At the national level, the Columbia… learn more >

I was recently immersed in Stephen Pyne’s Pyrocene, when adaptive management strategies that include an intentional patchwork of crown-fire burning in boreal forests caught my attention as fires across Canada are altering landscapes, devastating communities, and inundating much of North America with smoke. Despite often feeling behind in effort to live with fire and smoke,… learn more >

Tracy LeClair – PIO1/PIOC, CO-CEM® Communications & Outreach Specialist Wildland Fire Management Section Colorado Division of Fire Prevention & Control   Live Wildfire Ready is a new campaign in Colorado designed to inform homeowners about what they can do to mitigate wildfire risk to their life, home and property. The campaign is funded by the State of Colorado and… learn more >

This year’s Colorado Wildland Fire Conference is sold out with over 300 registrants and 36 exhibitor spaces. After many long months of planning, the 2023 Conference planning team is bringing the largest Colorado Wildland Fire Conference in state history, to Fort Collins, Colorado, April 10th-14th. Connecting to Colorado’s Network for Wildfire Resilience, as well as… learn more >

Exemplary Commitment to Community Wildfire Risk Reduction  Eagle County, Colorado The IAFC Wildfire Mitigation Awards committee has named one individual and one organization to receive it’s 2023 Wildfire Mitigation Awards. This year’s recipients happen to both be from Eagle County, Colorado, where their coordinated efforts have earned them “the highest commendation for innovation and leadership in wildfire mitigation.”… learn more >

Fire Adapted Colorado and our membership of wildfire resilience leaders in Colorado are growing in tandem. In the past several years, wildfire collaborative groups have coalesced around the state. New(ish) groups include the Routt County Wildfire Council, Clear Creek Watershed Forest Health Partnership, Boulder Fireshed Collaborative, Four Rivers Resilient Forest Collaborative, Eagle County Wildfire Collaborative… learn more >

BY REBECCAFIREADAPTEDCOORG ON DECEMBER 14, 2022 It’s been nearly a year since the Marshall fire caused unprecedented wildfire destruction in Boulder County.  Only two years ago the East Troublesome Fire destroyed 366 homes, Calwood 23 homes, and the Cameron Peak Fire outgrew the Pine Gulch Fire as the two largest recorded fires in Colorado, both in the same… learn more >

Building Your FAC Ambassador Approach Workshop Boulder, COFeb. 27 full dayFeb. 28, 1/2 dayCost: $40 Apply to attendApply to attend Fire Adapted Colorado, Wildfire Adapted Partnership, and Boulder Watershed Collective are hosting a “Building a FAC Ambassador Approach” workshop in Boulder on February 27-28, 2023. Through a FAC Ambassador approach, practitioners can empower local residents… learn more >

      Registration for the Colorado Wildland Fire Conference in Fort Collins April 10-14 is now open!     www.wildfire-colorado.com    Early bird registration is $325 / $275 after FACO member $50 discount code     Register now! Rates will increase to $375 beginning January 16th     The optional Poudre Watershed Tour, on… learn more >

FACO network members, the Spanish Peaks Alliance for Wildfire Protection (SPAWP) hosted a Summer Community Education and Training Program, including a community-wide meeting on August 27th, at the Cuchara Community Center in Cuchara Village. A packed house of concerned citizens and Firewise community leaders were present, along with a host of collaborating agencies who reported on their efforts… learn more >

March 22, 2022 FACO Members take WMA Honors Paul Cada and Schelly Olson, 2022 WMA award winners from Colorado The 2022 Wildfire Mitigation Award (WMA) winners were announced this week and included two of our own: Fire Adapted Colorado members - Paul Cada (Town of Vail) and Schelly Olson (Grand County Wildfire Council). The two… learn more >

This NPR article features Fire Adapted Colorado’s Board Chair and Eagle County, Colorado Wildfire Mitigation Coordinator, Eric Lovgren, sharing about their RealFire Program

This story highlights the efforts to leverage neighborhood volunteers to lead wildfire preparedness. Wildfire Mitigation Professionals and neighborhood leaders across Colorado and the country are building upon the model of Wildfire Adapted Partnership Neighborhood Ambassadors (southwest CO).

This story shares how adapting to COVID-19 resembles the strategy for adapting to wildfire.

Vail Fire’s Paul Cada shares about his 2019 FAC experience and gives a salute to the year ahead. Paul is on the board of Fire Adapted Colorado.

This is an excellent national FAC Learning Network blog post from Bill Trimarco, Fire Adapted Colorado member with Wildfire Adapted Partnership in Archuleta County, CO. Do you have the wildfire resilience funding blues… especially for the critical “collaborative outreach and administrative efforts that make those [on-the-ground] treatments possible“? Please share your lessons and encouragement.

A full circle autobiographical story by Fire Adapted Colorado’s Executive Director encourages support for FACO’s Opportunity Fund.

Wildfire Adapted Partnership’s, Alex Graf, shares his experience with cross-boundary education, implementing Prescribed Fire Tours in 2019 in partnership with the San Juan National Forest.

Fire Adapted Colorado’s Opportunity Fund grants go along way to supporting community fire adaptation around the state. This post shares a little about recently funded projects.

View from the Colorado Multi-Mission Aircraft of the Silver Creek Fire plume, Sept. 2018 In 2018, the Silver Creek Fire, northwest of Kremmling had ignited and been burning within containment lines since July. Hot and windy conditions pushed the fire beyond containment lines in September prompting evacuations of around 200 homes and closure of Hwy… learn more >

This is the story of a Colorado Cohesive Strategy convening, and how it came together in three months.

Last week,  twenty-three participants attended the first ever Fire Adapted Communities Ambassador Approach workshop in Durango. This workshop was co-hosted by Fire Adapted Colorado and Widlfire Adapted Partnership in Durango with support from the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network. This was an amazing workshop which included participation from Fire Adapted Colorado members: West Metro Fire,… learn more >

2018/12/Christmas- As wildfire preparedness professionals we are used to seeing and marking small trees, often in the understory, to be removed as part of fuels reduction projects. West Region Wildfire Council is among the innovators who have taken advantage of the opportunity to match these trees with people who would like a Christmas tree but… learn more >

Fire Adapted Colorado has a wide range of members, from organizations dedicated entirely to helping their ‘whole community‘ prepare for wildfire to agencies and businesses for which wildfire preparedness is only one part of their mandate. For the non-profit, wildfire council type organizations, covering the basic costs of doing business and developing branding or outreach… learn more >

For those of you that know me, I bet you can hear my voice within this article. For those that don’t I think this article does a pretty good job of explaining my history, the history of the organizations I support, and what I believe to be necessary to make lasting change. Decide for yourself… learn more >

by Ludie Bond and Lorena Williams Bayfield – On June 1, 2018 during yet another hot, dry and windy day, fire crews from the San Juan National Forest and local cooperators initiated response to the 416 Fire north of Durango. Over the coming days, hundreds of fire resources, including hotshot crews, engines, air tankers, and helicopters,… learn more >

FACO’s Opportunity Fund supported six FACO member projects including three community events, one countywide planning project, branding materials for a collaborative effort, and a regional homeowner engagement project. We are so proud of our amazing partners and their work.  It is amazing what a little bit of money and a lot of hard work can… learn more >

Periodically we will be highlighting FACO members and the great work that they are doing across the state. At the end of each Member Spotlight, we ask a question to our viewers about current issues or challenges FACO members are facing – we hope that you’ll contribute your experience and thoughts to this discussion on… learn more >

Written by Weston Toll with the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed Collaboration (noun): the action of working with someone to produce or create something. Collaborating on a project is oftentimes the most effective way to achieve goals on a more landscape scale when it comes to hazardous fuels reduction and overall forest health. It… learn more >

Pam Wilson has been the Chair of Fire Adapted Colorado (FACO) for the past three years and has played an integral role in forming this organization. She is retiring from her position at FireWise Southwest Colorado, and passing the torch of FACO’s Chair position to Jonathan Bruno in 2018. We are thankful for her many… learn more >