Editor:

The 2014 draft budget for Montezuma County does not include funding for Firewise of Southwest Colorado – a serious omission. Firewise Colorado provides important resources to county residents. Our No. 1 natural disaster threat is wildfires. Firewise volunteers and county coordinators provide a range of resources and services to our residents to minimize the loss of life and property due to wildfire independent of the outstanding work that our firefighters perform. One of several things we focus on is mitigation, actions taken proactively and well before a wildfire threatens. An example of how effective this can be took place during the Weber Fire, where zero homes were lost. The actions supported by Firewise and implemented by neighborhood Firewise ambassadors (unpaid volunteers) provided a zone of safety for firefighters to work safely and defend homes. This would definitely not have been the case before Firewise work had taken place in preceding years.

The budget amount that is not in the 2014 budget is just under $26,000 – 7/100 of 1 percent of the proposed Montezuma County budget. Consider this amount relative to the loss of just one home that could have been prevented due to the work that Firewise does. For 2012 (2013 numbers are not finalized yet), Southwest Colorado residents and subdivisions received well over $800,000 for wildfire risk reduction. Again, please compare this amount to the relatively small funding for Firewise that so far has not been included in the 2014 Montezuma County budget. I ask the public to support our efforts to make Montezuma County a safer place to live and to urge our county commissioners to continue their support for Firewise in our county.

Tom Getts, Firewise neighborhood ambassador, Mancos