Community outreach

Two programs focus on education for the community— Defensible Space Workshops and FIREWISE Communities Workshops. The Gila National Forest has been conducting the Defensible Space Workshops for over five years. These workshops are 2-hour presentations with interagency partners. Local fire departments give the workshops along with the USFS District Fire Management Office. After the presentation, the 20 Communities Cost-share Program is explained to give homeowners an incentive to treat their land. These group and one-on-one meetings are a critical step when dealing with people and their houses.

In 2001, Grant County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and National Fire Plan Implementation Team (NFPIT) began co-sponsoring FIREWISE workshops intended to increase homeowner awareness of the wildfire threat and develop skills to protect homes. The workshops are well attended by the community and now are expected to be an annual event.

Loretta Ray is a USFS Interagency Coordinator and Fire Information Officer and works closely with NFPIT and their community education efforts. Loretta has seen a "domino effect" with defensible space. When one property is thinned, other property owners like the appearance and soon follow suit. Still, there are those that move to remote areas in Silver City to avoid people and regulations and to live with nature. Many like the privacy associated with thick dense forests and can be difficult to communicate with or reach through these means

The All Hazards Emergency Operations Plan

In 1999, LEPC established the Grant County Unified Fire Command Protocols. These protocols established procedures including evacuation plans. A variety of fire and emergency agencies met to develop an interagency plan. Exercises were designed and conducted to test the plan. In 2002, the Unified Fire Command Protocols were adopted and incorporated in the County's All Hazards Emergency Operations Plan.

Silver City Fire Department

Silver City Fire Department has 21 full-time firefighters that support the community of over 10,000 people. The Department began 130-190, Basic Wildland training in the late 1990's and require all firefighters to remained current in the training. This means that all firefighters are crosstrained in both structure and wildland firefighting techniques.

 

Wildfires in Silver City

There have not been many wildland fires in the USFS Silver City District. In 2002, the Middle fire and the Cub fire burned in the District. The Middle fire was mostly grass and burned 35,000 acres. The Cub fire hit a previous fire and was reduced to a ground fire. 7,500 acres were burned.

Prescribed fire has been used more on Gila National Forest in comparison to others. According to Gerry Engel, SC District Ranger this is due to the foresight of the current and past Fire Management Officers who wanted to use and continue to use fire as a tool to mitigate the wildfire threat.