Creek Prevention Plan Praised

~ by Rick Langenberg ~

The commissioners gave the thumb-up to a new wildfire prevention plan, crafted by the Cripple Creek Fire Department.

Cripple Creek Fire Chief Dean O’Nale presented the 56-page plan and outlined the progress the department has made with its cadre of 12 full-time and six part-time employees. He stressed that the agency maintains good cooperation with other districts in the area, some of which may not have as good as resources as Cripple Creek. “If there is a call, we go,” said O’Nale, in outlining the agency’s emergency response policy.

In the document, the department described the main dangers the community may face..  “The greatest wildfire threat to the city of Cripple Creek is from a grass fire and flying firebrands (airborne burning embers) landing on unmaintained properties and dilapidated wooden structures inside the city limits,” stated the detailed report. “Forest fires are also a threat to the infrastructure including the watershed, communications towers and electrical power lines.”

The plan also vows that the fire department will pursue an aggressive education and outreach program throughout the district to stress the benefits of wildfire risk mitigation measures.

The commissioners lauded O’Nale for the detailed plan, part of an effort the county updated in 2011 with its comprehensive Teller County Wildfire Protection Plan in unincorporated sections of Teller. 

Commissioner Marc Dettenrieder emphasized the importance of protecting the Cripple Creek/Victor area from fires and disasters, citing the calamity that occurred from the 1896 fires that destroyed both communities. With the assets that now exist in the district with gaming and mining, he noted that a catastrophic fire would be quite devastating “We don’t want to have another one,” said Dettenrieder.33