The National Forest Service, which responds to an average of 55 wildfires every year in the Canyon Lakes and Boulder ranger districts, says it will alter its strategy for next summer’s fire season, as more than 30 percent of the access roads it uses are either damaged or wiped out by September’s flood.
Forest Service spokeswoman Tammy Williams said there is damage to 382 miles of roadways that wildfire mitigation teams rely on every year in the Canyon Lakes and Boulder districts, which comprise the Arapaho and Roosevelt national forests, as well as Pawnee National Grassland.
The damage was spread across 232 roads and four bridges. Most of the roads are made of dirt or otherwise unpaved, and Williams said some of them would take years to restore.
“What we really don’t know is what damage might occur over the winter from snow and spring runoff,” she added.
Geoff Bell, a fire management officer with the Forest Service, said the impact of road losses on future fire mitigation is still unknown.
The Forest Service says it will add a helicopter to its resource base, which offers fire teams greater flexibility than simply relying almost entirely on ground crews.
“With the ground forces that we have now, response times would be delayed,” Williams said. “We want to add a helicopter, which could deliver firefighters more quickly, support water drops and crew and equipment delivery.”
