The recent extra wet days of the month of May have been welcomed by the Boulder Mountain Wildfire Mitigation Crew. Although many are anticipating the sunny days of summer to begin, the mitigation crew was able to utilize the moisture-ridden weather and completed some much needed prescribed slash pile burns within our district. Slash is the remnant of mitigation projects, or simply the forest debris cleaned up from around ones property, often consisting of limbs, pine cones, pine needles and miscellaneous fuel left by natural debris or forest management which is then concentrated into a pile. When optimum conditions exist, the slash piles are burned, further reducing the wildfire danger. Wind, temperature, moisture and staffing all play a significant role in allowing ignitions to take place. Firefighters monitor the area while and after the slash burning is complete, while keeping safety as top priority in burning operations. From Fall 2018 to Spring 2019, the mitigation crew has cleared 1500 slash burn piles. These piles encompassed 45 acres within our district and the work was completed on 17 days, making our urban interface neighborhood a safer place for us to live and to enjoy.
Final Slash piles burned for the season, May 2019