MONUMENT — A 'wildfire preparedness day' was hosted at Palmer Ridge High School on Saturday.
The meeting was hosted by Palmer Ridge High School’s Emergency Preparedness Club.
For Palmer Ridge High School senior, Lauren Covan, wildfires hit home.
“I remember just looking out the window and seeing the big plume of smoke and all that you can see, the flames and how scary that really was and just knowing how many people were displaced after that, and it’s something that will be with me for the rest of my life,” said Coval.
Lauren just ten years old when the Waldo Canyon Fireblazed through her neighborhood.
“I knew friends who lost their homes and lost everything in a blink of an eye with both the Waldo Canyon Fire and Black Forest,” said Coval.
Eager to help her community, Lauren decided to start Palmer Ridge High School’s Emergency Preparedness Club. The club is now in its second year and is working to help the community prepare for a wildfire.
The meeting hosted nine different organizations, including the Monument Fire District. Jamey Bumgarner, the division chief of Monument Fire says homeowners need to take the steps needed to prepare for a wildfire because fire season is now all year long.
“We have to view mitigation as a quilt almost, there’s patches on each quilt, and if this homeowner does their work, and this homeowner does their work, and one down here, eventually we fill the patches on that quilt and the whole community gets better prepared for a wildfire as it approaches,” said Bumgarner.
Another big thing talked about was that emergency backpack you need to have prepared in the case that a wildfire was to break out. That would include anything like an emergency shelter kit like a tent or a flashlight. If you want more information on how you can prepare, visit here.
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