Fire chief Michael Schmitt is bumping down an unpaved road west of Boulder, barely wide enough for his SUV. He’s headed toward the dead end of County Road 83, where — behind a metal gate, behind tree trunks blackened in the Fourmile Canyon fire — a narrow dirt road is cut into the mountainside. If […]
conifer
Posted inNews
4,000 cars, one exit: Residents in growing neighborhoods worry their new neighbors could crowd wildfire escape routes
CONIFER — A fire chief warning county officials in all-caps that he would be “UNABLE TO PROTECT” a proposed housing complex might have sounded like its death knell. But in this mountain community west of Denver, the developer decided instead to file a lawsuit seeking a court-ordered takeover of the Elk Creek Fire Protection District. […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Could a new insurance-premium fee prevent Colorado’s next big natural disaster? Some lawmakers say yes.
When the Camp fire ripped through Paradise, California, in 2018, killing dozens of people and destroying hundreds of structures, Lisa Cutter knew her Colorado community could be next. The Democratic state representative’s district includes Evergreen and Conifer, two towns at risk of experiencing a devastating wildfire. “People in the wildlife urban interface are scared,” Cutter […]