'A Lot Of Damage Can Be Prevented': Volunteers Prepare CalWood Fire Burn Area In Boulder County For Another Fire Season
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS) - Homes once stood on a mountainside in Boulder County, that is until last year's CalWood Fire. And with the weather the way it's been -- dry and warm -- a veteran volunteer group called Team Rubicon decided to come out this weekend to make sure something like this never happens again.
"We're taking down a lot of different trees and then leaving them in place to help with erosion," says Johnathan Pevarnek the Incident Commander for Operation Cutting Loose.
This handful of volunteers had their hands full Saturday and Sunday. In this mission dubbed "Operation Cutting Loose" veteran and civilian volunteers cut down burned trees in the Calwood Fire burn scar that are an ongoing fire danger.
"This is much more work than we are going to get done in one weekend," says Pevarnek.
Team Rubicon is a veteran-led organization of volunteers that have spent their summer and autumn making sure Coloradans are prepared for wildfire.
Pevarnek says, "This year we did probably about 10 projects across the state of Colorado and we are just wrapping it up this season."
The CalWood Fire started just one year ago on Oct. 17, 2020, proving that fire season is now year-round in Colorado. Team Rubicon says that residents need to be prepared because acting now will prevent heartache later.
"A lot of the damage from these wildfires we've seen can be prevented if you just get the mitigation side right," says Pevarnek.
Team Rubicon is a volunteer organization and they are always looking for more hands to help out. If you are interested you can learn more at teamrubiconusa.org/volunteer.
