Colorado Offers Course to Help Private Landowners Conduct
Safer Prescribed Burns
The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC)
is helping private landowners learn how to be safer when conducting low
complexity pile burns on their own land by teaching a class that offers limited
civil liability to those who successfully complete the course and accompanying
task book.
In 2013, Gov. Hickenlooper signed Senate Bill 13-083, the
“Colorado Prescribed Burning Act,” into law which created a prescribed burning
program in the Division of Fire Prevention and Control. According to DFPC Director
Paul
Cooke, “the Act does not require private landowners to obtain
any certification in order to conduct prescribed fire on their own property,
but it does offer limited civil liability protection to any landowner that gets
certified by the Division as a Certified Burner.”
The Certified Burner course is a 2 ½ day class that
covers basic fire behavior, how and where to build piles safely, and the
potential criminal and civil liability that can come with conducting prescribed
burns. After the course, attendees are required to attend training burns before
they receive their certification from the Division.
In addition, the Division has developed checklists for
private landowners to utilize before conducting a burn and is working on
developing a four hour course to help educate the public on best practices that
should be utilized when burning. These tips include: obtaining the necessary
state and/or local permits, checking the weather to ensure that high winds or
thunderstorms will not negatively impact your burn, and notifying your
neighbors, the Sheriff’s Office, and your local fire department before burning.
Cooke says, “the Division is hopeful this educational outreach program will
reduce the number of escaped burns conducted by private landowners.”
For more information about the Division’s Certified
Burner course, contact Mike Frary at 303-445-4361 or mike.frary@state.co.us, or visit the Division’s website at: http://tinyurl.com/lzksac9.
Resources:
Burner Awareness Tip Sheet: www.bit.ly/DFPCBurnerTips
Link to News Release: www.bit.ly/DFPC04032015
