Two Bills Give Incentives to Homeowners to Build Wildfire Resilient Homes
In 2012 and 2013, the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest Fires proved to be the two most costly wildfires in the history of the Pikes Peak Region. In the aftermath of the blazes 10 years later, lawmakers have tried to come up with ways to prevent the level of destruction these two fires caused.
This year three bills that were sponsored by the same lawmaker representing El Paso County were drafted to help save lives and the destruction of property should similar blazes ignite in the future. House Bill 23-1075 was written to create a program to study wildfire evacuation and clearance time modeling for areas that have a high risk for forest fires.
House Bill 23-1096 “Wildfire Resilient Homes” and House Bill 23-1273 “Creation of Wildfire Resilient Homes Grant Program” were designed to promote the construction and reconstruction of homes to increase their ability to withstand destruction caused by fires.
Rep. Marc Snyder, who represents El Paso and Teller counties, remembers the two Southern Colorado blazes all too well as he was the mayor of Manitou Springs during the Waldo Canyon Fire. Snyder sponsored all three bills as his way to prevent the same level of destruction when fires ignite in the future.
What Would the Wildfire Resilient Homes Bills Do if Passed?
HB 23-1096 was drafted to expand the wildfire mitigation resources and grant program to help promote wildfire-resilient home construction.
“The bill expands the wildfire mitigation resources and best practices grant program to allow grant recipients to expend grant money on programs, education, and resources for ways in which houses located in areas of the state at high risk of wildfires may be built, rebuilt, or improved to make such houses more resilient to the risks posed by wildfires and requires the Colorado state forest service to promote the benefits of adopting the ways in which houses can be made more wildfire resilient,” the bill’s summary states.
The bill was introduced to the House in January and assigned to the House Committee on Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources. But on Feb. 27, the bill was postponed indefinitely as a similar bill was proposed in its place.
HB 23-1273 was then introduced to the House on March 30 with Rep. Junie Joseph, who represents Boulder County, also listed as a sponsor and assigned to the Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources Committee. The new bill came about to create a wildfire-resilient homes grant program within the Division of Fire Prevention and Control.
“The program allows homeowners to apply to receive a grant for retrofitting or improving a house or other structure on the homeowner’s property with strategies and technologies for structure hardening in order to make the house or structure more resilient to the risk of wildfire,” the HB 23-1273 summary states. “The bill also creates the wildfire resilient homes grant program cash fund for use by the division to award grants and to promote best practices for structure hardening, and on Aug. 15, 2023, the state treasurer is required to transfer $2 million from the general fund to the fund. The division is required to annually report to the wildfire matters review committee on expenditures made from the fund and grants that are awarded pursuant to the program.”
Proponents Say It Is Important to Learn from the Past
According to Rep. Snyder, part of the reason structures were lost in fires in the past was due to design flaws in houses that made them not as resilient to flames as they could be. After 10 years, there have been advancements in structural technology to prevent homes from burning down quickly in the case of a wildfire.
“So many homes burned in the Waldo Canyon Fire and the Black Forest Fire a year later because of design issues with the soffit vents,” Rep. Snyder explained. “The attics had these soffit vents that were open. What happened with a lot of those is that embers got sucked up in there and once that happens you are not going to be able to save that property.”
He said that since then, the City of Colorado Springs has changed its code to not allow soffit vents.
“With wildfires being such a prevalent issue, a lot of the building supply companies have really ramped up their supply of better siding and better decking,” Rep. Snyder said. “When I first came up with the idea for this bill last summer, I was looking at about a $2,500 additional cost. But because supply has really ramped up, now it is essentially the same price whether you use traditional building materials or more wildfire-resilient materials. I’m not a mandate from the top-down person, but if I can get it to become consumer and demand-driven without any mandates, I believe the development community will be more than happy to accommodate. And I think it will become a selling point for the builder.”
Bill Saw Some Opposition
Since the new bill does not create mandates for changing building codes, there were not a lot of people or organizations who have spoken out against the proposed law. But Colorado Counties, Inc. (CCI) whose “purpose is to offer assistance to county commissioners, mayors, and council members and to encourage counties to work together on common issues,” said in a report that there were some commissioners that did not like the original HB23-1096.
“Commissioners are concerned about how homes built or rebuilt with these resources may become out of compliance with the potential creation of the Wildfire Resiliency Code Board and its building code requirements,” the CCI said in their legislative report published in March. “In addition, they feel more private partnerships should be utilized to accomplish this mission.”
On April 13, the second bill HB 23-1273 was moved through the committee to get decided on the House floor. If passed, the bill would take effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the 90-day period after the final adjournment of the general assembly. On August 15, 2023, the state treasurer is required to transfer $2 million from the general fund to the fund for wildfire-resilient homes.
