Nathan Whittington, Gilpin County Emergency Manager talks to us about preparedness from the Wildfire Preparedness Workshop (Presentation 15 Months 2019).
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May Saws And Slaws News
by Heather Hanson / Jody Dickson Saws & Slaws Chainsaw Skills and Safety Class 2019There couldn’t have been better weather for the two day Chainsaw Skills and Safety Class for 2019. Everyone gathered at Fire Station #2 to learn how to safely use and maintain our chainsaws. In the class, we learn to break down our saws, clean and sharpen them, what protective gear to have, and the best part, how to make cuts and fell a tree! It is really empowering to have these skills in your mountain resident arsenal. If you didn’t attend our Spring session you definitely will want to make time for the next one! Thanks…
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April Saws & Slaws News
by Heather Hanson / Jody Dickson Here in the Wildland Urban Interface, if you survived daylight Savings time, you know it’s a good time to change batteries and replace fire extinguishers. Relocate those buckets, hoses and ladders. Spring is springing. It’s time to get together your hand tools. Maybe get a Pulaski? What’s a Pulaski? A pulaski is a hand tool used by firefighters to create a fire line. Part axe and part adze this solid manual tool is handy for breaking up compacted soil around your house. Do you have a pulaski? Post it to our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SawsAndSlaws/) and join us this weekend, at a discount, for the…
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March Saws & Slaws News
by Heather Hanson / Jody Dickson Did you know the prolonged prevention of wildfires, since the Big Burn in 1910 of Wallace, Idaho, exacerbated the threat of hotter burning, more impactful, deadly megafires? As explained by photo journalist and wildfire researcher Michael Kodas, prevention has resulted in dangerously over fueled forests. With forty times the flammable vegetation forests had before the suppression of fires became a fifty year norm, forest conditions have been created that foster the megafires we see more prevalent, and threatening, every year. Different types of forests naturally experience vastly different incidents of fire. While a lodge pole pine forest will naturally have a 2-300 year event.…
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February Saws & Slaws News
by Heather Hanson / Jody Dickson When is a good time to inventory your home’s contents? Not after a disaster. No-one really wants to think about what they could lose. The prospect of such an undertaking can sound tedious, and likely it can feel overwhelming. Ultimately though, you will get your maximum payout, in minimal time, from your insurance company. If you document your property before an event, you will spend less time gathering information when time is scarce. 250 hours. That’s how long Linda Masterson indicates, in her book “Surviving Wildfire”, she pent compiling a claim after a wildfire took her home in 2011. That’s a large chunk of…
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January Saws & Slaws News
by Jody Dickson / Heather Hanson Facing January, here in 2019, Saws and Slaws is reflecting on the year that has past, and planning the year ahead. We are extremely grateful to ALL of our volunteers and to the community for their support. In 2018, our volunteers worked a total of 642 hours in the 642!! There’s no feeling in the world like sharing great exercise, great food, great fun, and great neighbors. There are no other communities like ours! In 2019, we had 57 different volunteers, averaged 20 volunteers at our main events, and averaged 10 volunteers over all of our events, including the firewood project work. Volunteers make…
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Community Risk Reduction
by Jody Dickson In October, I was able to participate in a “Train the Trainer” workshop hosted by the Pike Peak Wildfire Prevention Partners. While the theme was how to teach about wildfire mitigation, we mostly talked about effective ways to teach about community risk reduction. I was hoping to get some insight about what motivates people to prioritize and do mitigation work on their property. Of course, there are no easy answers. Just like with financial investing, we each have a different level of risk we are willing to tolerate in our lives. Also, we all have an optimism bias where we overestimate that good things will happen and…
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November Saws & Slaws News
by Heather Hanson It’s November and we had our warning storm. Over here, by the K-8, we got seven and a half inches. Pinecliffe saw nine and a half, and Nederland met with nine point five. Now is the time to get the things you want away from the elements, inside. November is also the time to get your volunteer fire department application in. This year the deadline is November 26th. Volunteer firefighters are the backbone of our safety and wellbeing in the canyon. Coal Creek Canyon history is full of brave citizenry fighting to keep the canyon prepared for fires. In 1957, “Freelance” fireman, Andrew Nawyn, built a 300…
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2019 Season Applications Now Open!
Saws and Slaws is now taking applications for neighborhood events for 2019. Now is the time to talk to your neighbors about getting on the schedule for next Spring and Summer. Get out, connect with those in your proximity, and vow to get your properties safer and healthier. Got questions? Call Us! (303) 642-0273. SawsAndSlaws_Application_2019 Curbside Chipping Event Update On September 8th, the good residents of Twin Spruce, all the way up to Dowdle, were given a chance to drag their slash to their own curb and watch it quickly processed in our enormous chipper. The many volunteers of the 501(c)3 organization Saws & Slaws came together once again for a…
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October Saws & Slaws News
by Linda Martin / Heather Hanson Although it is pushing eighty degrees today in the canyon; the colors of the turning leaves, and wild turkeys running around, let us know it is definitely Fall! As we dream of snowflakes, we are still very much under threat of wildfires. The heat, falling dead leaves, and blustery conditions are a sobering wildfire recipe for our canyon, and our state. One of the most useful things you can do to protect your home, and your neighbor’s, is to practice defensible space. Defensible space can suggest alternate paths for a fire to follow away from your house. Any action is worthwhile for the health…
