Purpose and Goals:

In 2003 The City of Steamboat Springs was awarded a FEMA grant to assign an "initial" wildland fire hazard ratings to all inhabitable structures within the fire departments response area. A "complete" rating will be assigned to every structure within the two pilot areas (Steamboat Pines and Burgess Creek area).

By doing so the department hopes to further educate the public of potential risks of wildland fire and the urban interface and provide the homeowners with mitigation options.

Pilot Areas:

Burgess Creek Area and Steamboat Pines Subdivision were selected to do a complete inventory of the structures and subsequent ratings.

This project is being copmleted largly through the use of GIS systems and publicly available data such as the Routt County Assessor Database and vegatation, topograhical and Landuse datasets. Additional on-site assessments and verification will also occur.

Initial vs Complete rating:

The "initial" rating will be based on existing data and constitute approximately 85% of the hazard rating for the structure.

The remaining 15% consitutes the "complete" rating and requires an on-site assessment and verification.

Evaluation Criteria:

An extensive survey is completed on the structures within the pilot area. Criteria is based upon the NFPA's Standard for Protection of Life and Property from Wildfire (NFPA 1144). The broad cataegories for evaluation include:

• Means of access
• Vegetative fuel models
• Topography
• Additional rating factors including historical fire occurance
• Roofing material
• Building contruction
• Available fire protection

The end result is a hazard assessment rating in points. The total points for a rating (structure or subdivision) can then be categorized based upon the following scale: