A historically hot, dry winter on the Western Slope has ‘everybody on edge’ about a potentially severe wildfire season — can it spur more preparedness? (Summit Daily News)
Dozens of folding chairs set up in the two-bay garage of Summit Fire & EMS Station 12 filled quickly on Sunday afternoon, April 12, as people filtered in for a talk on wildfire preparedness. For extra seating, local residents brought over camp chairs and deck furniture. Others stood or sat in the back, some with children resting on their laps or dangling from their shoulders. More than 100 people turned out, a number of them scribbling in notebooks throughout the presentation. Ami Doyle, a Summit County resident of 27 years who said she had never previously attended a wildfire preparedness event, summed up why she chose to show up: “The lack of snow this past winter has definitely brought the risk.”