Meanwhile, the volunteer fire fighter is meeting and learning about their district. By partitioning the site information, the potential for mitigation can be easily determined. The hazard risk map, completed for individual fire protection districts, is given to the fire district to indicate and locate the hazards, determine the levels of risk to wildfire, monitor mitigation efforts, and provide information for pre-attack and resource planning purposes. Maintenance of the system includes periodic updates and adding new information, keeping the system dynamic. Updates are made both at the fire district and periodically at the County Land Use Department where the GIS databases can be related with the updates from the district to produce new maps.
Interns provide for parcel research, data entry and accuracy checking.
The Sheriff's Department hired four volunteer fire fighters for six weeks to complete the one year later update. The County has completed the first pilot area Pine Brook Hills Fire Protection District which began in the Fall of 1992. The Fourmile FPD and the High Country FPD have been trained to do the surveys and are in the process of collecting the information. Four more districts plus one town fire department will begin this spring. Under the county's Site Plan Review regulations for all new development, applications for building permits include an assessment of the wildfire hazards for the property.