HomeHome InsuranceNorth Broomfield residents worry about how a wildfire code may affect them

North Broomfield residents worry about how a wildfire code may affect them


With impending new regulations surrounding the wildfire resiliency of land and structures in some areas, some residents of northern Broomfield are worried about the implications for their unique neighborhood.

Instead of the suburban homes and close-quarters neighborhoods across much of Broomfield, the Wilcox area north of 144th Avenue and west of Interstate 25 is characterized by larger, agricultural-zoned pieces of land often populated with horses, goats and other farm animals.

A large area of Wilcox is now classified by the state as a wildland-urban interface zone, or an area where structures and other human development meets or intermingles with wildland or vegetative fuels. The classification is part of a Colorado law passed in 2023 that led to a new wildfire resiliency code — and a board for adopting such rules.

“In the state of Colorado, we have seen some of the most destructive wildfires (of the state’s history) in the last 25 years, and from 2010 to 2020, we saw our residents increase by 750,000,” Carolyn Larsen, administrator for the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, said in a July 21 community meeting hosted by Broomfield officials to discuss the code.

Larsen said many of the new residents coming to the state end up in wildland-urban interface areas, and the law and subsequent wildfire resiliency code were created to help keep Colorado communities safer and more resilient to wildfires.

The resiliency code includes certain requirements for land and structures within interface zones that focus on things like using specific flame-retardant building materials and keeping vegetation distanced from structures.

“It’s not that wildfire mitigation and prevention isn’t important to us — we would do anything to protect not only our family and our land but our neighbors’ and community as well,” Melissa Mossoni, a Wilcox resident, said. “But it feels like we’re on this island for some reason, out of nowhere, and carrying the entire burden of this community.”

According to the state’s wildfire resiliency code map, Wilcox is the largest area in Broomfield — and one of only two areas in that city — classified under “moderate intensity,” making it subject to more of the code’s provisions. Mossoni and residents like her are left wondering why their neighborhood is classified differently from the similar-looking land surrounding it.

Larsen told the Broomfield Enterprise in an email that variations in wildfire fuel type — or vegetation — and topography or slope of the land can affect the way an area is classified. She also said that because the code is a minimum requirement, more accurate mapping can be done by Broomfield officials.

Cindy David's donkey Josie looks out from a pen in the Wilcox neighborhood of Broomfield on Aug. 6. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
Cindy David’s donkey Josie looks out from a pen in the Wilcox neighborhood Aug. 6. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)

A minimum requirement code means local jurisdictions, including Broomfield, can make their own wildfire resiliency codes and requirements, but they must align with or exceed the state’s regulations. Broomfield will also be responsible for enforcing the local code once it’s created, but some of Wilcox’s residents have a deep distrust of their local representatives and aren’t convinced their neighborhood is in good hands.

“When you look at the mission of this legislation in protecting people, I have to ask, who is protecting us?” Mossoni said. “Historically, we’ve protected each other, whether it was snow plowing or mowing … and we’re always left as the ones mitigating problems.”

Mossoni said city staff has been helpful and supportive of the Wilcox residents in trying to gain a better understanding of the wildfire resiliency code, but with the state continuing to hand down unfunded mandates, local officials are also overwhelmed.

“They’ve put the burden (of this code) on our local governments, and we don’t have the resources,” she said.

‘I’ll believe it when I see it’

Mossoni and her neighbors cited multiple concerns with the code and how it could affect Wilcox, including whether the code can be applied to existing structures. The code is written to apply only to the building of new structures or large changes to structures, including if more than 25% of the surface area of all exterior walls is affected by a renovation or repair.

However, one section of the code, 102.8 — that states existing structures “shall be permitted to continue without change, except … as is deemed necessary by the code official for the general safety and welfare of the occupants and the public” — has Mossoni and her neighbors concerned.

“It’s fairly typical for governmental agencies with the best of intentions to put this stuff out there, and the answers we were given did not match the wording of the legislation,” another Wilcox resident, Cindy David, said. “‘We aren’t going to look at other things,’ they’ve said … well, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

It would be up to Broomfield’s local code official, once one is established, to decide how to enforce that section, but city officials said they don’t plan to apply it to existing structures.

“Broomfield does not have any plans to inspect and require any existing structures to be brought into compliance with the new (code),” Tiffany Hardin, Broomfield’s deputy director of communications, said in an email. “Only structures that are required to get permits will need to comply with the specific sections of the code based on the scope of this new code.”

Another concern of some neighbors was whether being classified as “moderate intensity” will affect their home insurance rates.



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