Wildfires have been been a naturally occurring phenomenon for millions of years and are essential to the overall health and survival of a forested ecosystem. They provide opportunities for new vegetation growth, clearing of old dead material, natural fertilization of soil, new habitat for wildlife, defense against invasive species, and many additional benefits.

However, over the past 100+ years with people migrating to our mountainous regions, we have had to take the stance of strictly suppressing wildfires to protect life and property. Without the presence of naturally occurring fires, our forests have encountered a decline in overall health and diversity while accumulating a heavy amount of fuel loading. This unfortunately puts our homes and communities at a much higher risk for a high-intensity wildfire.

The policy of suppressing wildfire in our country over the past 100 years has created a dire situation for the health and sustainability of forests in the western United States.

Fuel loading is the amount of combustible material that exists within any given area that could potentially burn. Increased fuel loading results in higher intensity fires which are extremely difficult and dangerous to suppress.

Historically, forests would normally see more frequent lower intensity fires, that would clear much of the understory of dead and smaller trees, leaving the larger trees alive. Unfortunately, due to years of fire suppression and a lack of fuel reduction treatments in our forests, we are now accustomed to seeing extremely high-intensity fires that are nearly impossible to stop and often destroy everything in their path.

The reality is that fire is imperative to the health of the entire ecosystem, and simply putting out every wildfire that starts is no longer a viable option. The decision that we as at risk communities are faced with is what kind of fires do we want to have in our backyards.

The Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) is the transition zone between unoccupied land and human development. This area has become increasingly popular for people to move to and build homes, and for good reason, these are beautiful places to live and recreate! However, with making the choice to live in the WUI comes a responsibility to fully understand and prepare for the inevitability of wildfire.

Total Wildfires: 945

Human-caused wildfires: 476

Lightning-caused wildfires: 469

Total acres burned: 27,245

Human-caused acres: 24,281

Lightning-caused acres: 2,964

1. Equipment
2. Debris Burning
3. Campfires

Total Acres: 540

Homes Evacuated: 5,000 households in the Pinebrook, Timberline, and Summit Park neighborhoods for 4 days

The Utah Wildfire Info website provides information on current active state wildfires, prescribed fires, fuels reduction projects, fire restrictions, and other helpful information for homeowners.

Total Wildfires: 69,000 

Total Acres burned: 7.6 million acres

Structures destroyed: 2,717 (including 1,261 homes)

The  National Interagency Fire Center  website provides information on the national wildfire and prescribed fire situation, along with a myriad of resources to help homeowners stay in touch with the fire threat in the West.

Experiments, models, and post-fire studies have shown that homes ignite due to the condition of the home, and everything around it, up to 200 feet from the foundation. There are 3 main causes of home ignition during a wildfire event:

Sun Peak HOA is taking steps to help the community as a whole become better prepared for the potential of a catastrophic wildfire. This requires detailed planning, coordination, and investment of time and resources to ensure the best outcome should a fire occur. A Wildfire Safety Committee has been formed with volunteers from the community, to help organize and educate Sun Peak residents while addressing the ongoing wildfire threat. Sun Peak is recognized as an NFPA Firewise Community and is working under a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. This plan will help Sun Peak obtain outside grant funding for wildfire mitigation work, may assist homeowners in obtaining an retaining insurance, and are the baseline for communities in the WUI.

Sun Peak's CWPP provides the foundation for planning and implementation of wildfire risk mitigation on the community level. This includes a focus on local codes and ordinances, home ignition zones, defensible space, ignition-resistant construction and design standards, as well as hazardous fuels reduction in parks, common-owned areas, and open spaces within the local jurisdiction.

CWPP Goals: 1) Outline a mitigation and preparedness plan to work toward reducing wildfire risk. 2) Establish collaborative relationships with federal and state agencies as well as local stakeholders BEFORE an event occurs. 3) Develop a pre-attack plan or WUI tactical map for line personnel to improve firefighter readiness and safety. 4) Document planning and implementation of projects for garnering grant success and community support.

The Sun Peak CWPP is available at  sunpeak.org . Anyone interested in the development process should reach out to the Sun Peak HOA -  sunpeakpc@gmail.com  - for more information.  

One of the main ways to protect your homes and community from wildfires is through the implementation of Defensible Space. Defensible Space is any area that can be used as a buffer zone between oncoming wildfire and the homes of your community. Properly planned, implemented, and maintained defensible space increases the survivability of homes in a wildfire and provides a much safer operational environment for firefighters and first responders.

The HOA has worked diligently with local fire and forestry experts  Alpine Forestry LLC  to evaluate all of our open space for wildfire risk potential and forest health concerns. We developed 104 acres of priority treatment projects based on their recommendations, to begin to tackle the enormous task of managing our forests for a healthier and safer environment now and into the future. These projects focus on decreasing the fuel load, increasing defensible space, and improving overall forest health to lower your risk in the event of a wildfire.

The interactive map below shows the planned work set forth for the coming years in blue, and the 20 acres of work completed during summer 2022 in red.

With the assessment and planning phase completed, the implementation phase was started in July 2022 and continues with pile burning and material removal during summer 2023. The implementation phase will be an ongoing project with long-term plan to continually improve our wildfire risk and overall forest health.   

This effort will take a commitment from the homeowners to continually assess and maintain their own properties to reduce their exposure, and that of their neighbors, to wildfire. Participation in community eductaion events and fuel reduction projetcs will help us all become better prepard for wildfire. Park City Fire District provides a free chipper service to residents who are removing excess vegetation from their landscape.

We encourage you to contact the  Park City Fire District  or  Alpine Forestry  for a home and property assessment and strategy to begin the necessary work on your property.  

Earlier we talked about Fuel Loading, which, is the largest threat to the WUI. Without the presence of naturally occurring wildfires to keep the amount of fuel in check, it becomes our duty to do so utilizing common fuel mitigation techniques.

The first challenge as a homeowner in the WUI is to plan and prepare for the inevitability of a wildfire impacting Sun Peak. The Ready, Set, Go program developed by CALFIRE in the wake of years of devastating losses to wildfires has become the gold standard for homeowner preparedness. An updated resource for information, including checklists and preparedness tips can be found on the  Ready, Set, Go  website.

These videos provide valuable insight into homeowner preparedness and will help guide you through the process to take action now before a fire starts.

Get notified about emergencies and other important community information by signing up for our Summit County Emergency Alert Program. This system helps us provide you with critical information quickly in a variety of situations, such as emergencies, unexpected road closures, missing persons, special event impacts, and evacuations of buildings or neighborhoods. You will receive time-sensitive messages wherever you specify.

The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) has developed a robust set of recommendations to assist homeowners to prepare their homes for the threat of an oncoming wildfire. The  FIREWISE  program is designed to guide you step by step through the process.

• Dispose of heavy accumulation of litter and ground debris
• Remove dead plant and tree material
• Remove small conifers growing between mature trees
• Remove vegetation around any outbuildings or storage sheds
• Trees 30-60 feet from home should be spaced at least 12 feet apart
• Trees 60-100 feet from home should be spaced at least 6 feet apart

Homeowners who wish to obtain an independent Home and Property Assessment are highly encouraged to contact the  Park City Fire District  or  Alpine Forestry LLC . They provide NFPA trained and certified Wildland Fire Mitigation Specialists to perform custom home and property risk assessments, along with implementation guidance to help you protect your assets.

Alpine Forestry management and leadership stems from a diverse and robust background in fire and emergency response, disaster management and planning, GIS mapping and hazardous fuels reduction. Our combined 40 years of experience in the wildland urban interface makes us uniquely situated to address the threat facing the Northern Utah mountain communities. This relevant experience will assist homeowners and Sun Peak HOA to achieve your goals of creating and maintaining a healthy forest, reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire, and realizing your land use and management objectives.

We have spent thousands of hours on the front lines of wildfires, serving in many roles from planning, directing, and executing fire operations. We have worked countless hours to accomplish hazardous fuels objectives, including prescribed broadcast burning, pile burning, and performing many types of fuel break thinning. We have operated in and around communities before and during wildland fire situations, and have had great success in getting support from home and property owners due to our ability to relate our experiences fighting fires in areas much like their own.

Our detailed approach to our work will provide Sun Peak HOA and homeowners with relevant recommendations and quality results. With the heightened awareness of wildfire threat, prevention and mitigation are becoming increasingly important to ensure the safety of the public and emergency responders. We have seen first hand the positive impact that pre-planning and hazardous fuels work has had when a fire does occur. We look forward to continuing to help the Sun Peak Community to achieve your goals of a better prepared, more fire resistant community.