COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Colorado Springs Fire Department began fire mitigation in Stratton Open Space this month.
The goal is to remove fire fuel so it could lower the fire risk to homes and families.
"Fire danger has been consistently a problem all year around," said Cory Ashby, CSFD Wildfire Program Coordinator.
For the next three or four months, parks like Stratton Open Space are getting fire mitigation.
Crews are cutting smaller vegetation in 267 acres of open space. Springs Fire say it's important because if wildfire starts, these could become a fuel and cause a bigger fire.
"We have connectivity from the ground to the crown of the tree. That's when we have crown fires," Ashby said. "Very difficult for resources to put out, and it's much more dangerous."
The Bear Creek fire in 2020 threatened homes on the West side of Colorado Springs.
People who live near Bear Creek Park understand the importance of fire mitigation.
"This has been rainy this month, but often very dry... I have seen the devastation that can cause," Rosemarie Klassen said.
Thanks to fire mitigation, firefighters were able to stop Bear Creek fire quickly.
"(We) put the fire out before we had any damages to any of houses or high value infrastructure," Ashby said.
The Springs Parks Department says the mitigation is a team effort.
"We think about how we use all of our expertise and experts to come together to really minimize impact to the community," said David Deitemeyer with the Parks Department.
Springs Fire say the next mitigation will be Palmer Park.
During the mitigation, the city asks the public to follow all detours and be cautious around work areas.
Find out where and when detours will be in place here: https://coloradosprings.gov/stratton
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