NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse
Chop 'Til You Drop....
NoFloCo is a good neighbor
My husband and I were blessed to move to Teller County two and a half years ago and wanted to get to know our neighbors and become involved in our community, so we attended our first Indian Creek Property Owners Association (ICPOA) meeting and were introduced to NoFloCo.
When I showed up for my first project with NoFloCo I found I was placed in a specific group, I was guided in safety, such as listening for the whistles of the certified sawyers, making eye contact with them and signaling that I am aware a see where they are felling a tree. I was pleased to learn that the sawyers were trained and certified. In the safety briefing we were warned not to assist the property owner in burning the piles of slash, that it was their responsibility to get a permit and to burn themselves, should they choose to do so. NoFloCo could no longer assist with burning due to a county ordinance. We have not burned since my husband and I have been involved.
I was uncertain about how much help I could be but remembered Don Moore telling us if all you can do is pick up sticks, then pick up sticks. So I picked up sticks. I have witnessed how happy and thankful our neighbors were to receive help. I watched one senior gentleman with a walker sit on his front porch and watch as we cleared his property of dead brush and trees. It is really a good feeling to know that you are working together with your neighbors to help one another improve our properties and reduce the risk of wildfire damage.
We also attended classes, such as the Home Hardening class, being taught by Don Moore, our NoFloCo leader, educating us on the issues of living in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) and the risk of being affected by wildfires that is inherent in living here. We learned that more than half of Colorado residents live in the WUI. Don shared information from material from the Colorado State Forest Service. We were taught specific tasks we could do to “harden” our homes again the risk of wildfire.
We are so thankful for all that Don and Toni do leading NoFloCo in helping our community. They continue to learn and to teach us as they do. We are very surprised by the opposition and frankly the misinformation that is being spread. We hope we are able to continue to make a positive difference making our neighborhood safer. I encourage everyone to come join us, get to know your neighbors, have some fun, and pick up sticks!
Debbie Whitted, Florissant
Fire X Grand Challenge Semi-Finalists: 2 (CME/NoFloCo and Druid Hills/NoFloCo) Due the efforts of Mark "Klear Kut" Kolhlman; Victor "VicTree" Poston; Lisa "Safety Zone" Eisenhardt, and Randy Eisenhardt, these two subdivisions have been selected as Semi-Finalists in an international competition to address wildland fires and the efforts being put forth by their communities to confront this environmental concern. These individuals are working hard to make the finalist round so that additional fire mitigation activity can continue to take place on private property, thus reducing devastating wildland fire concerns and having a positive impact on homeowners insurance - Congratulations.
National Press Release on 2/18/2025 regarding NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse' from the United States Forest Service, The International Association of Fire Chiefs, The National Fire Protection Association, and the National Foresters Association - Stay Tuned and Congratulations!
Upcoming NoFloCo Projects and Events:
Property Assessments: 19; I have 19 properties that have requested Property Assessments. I would like to establish some teams that can go out and conduct these assessments, please let me know if you are interested.
Trigger Time: 5; I have 5 properties that have requested tree felling needs. I plan on getting two of these completed this week. Please let me know if you are interested.
NoFloCo University Home Hardening/ASIP 4 pm to 6 pm both dates: March 10, 2025 at the Lake George Library and March 11, 2025 at the Woodland Park Library. Please spread the word and have interested people reach out.
NoFloCo Full Scope Project: Saturday, March 15, 2025.
Thanks again and congratulations - you continue to do the right thing all the time.
Part of courage is simple consistency.
Don Moore
NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse
Florissant, Colorado
719-839-0860
donmoore@nofloco
www.nofloco.org
If you are needing firewood: We have extra wood all the time. In order to have wood delivered at no cost/for a donation, provide the contact person name, phone, email and address of the person who needs the wood to donmoore@nofloco.org. He will check to see if there are standing dead dry trees near or on the property to harvest. This makes the entire process much easier and more environmentally sound. Emailing ensures your request will not be lost in the many that come in. Thanks for helping us help you.
The NoFloCo Mission Statement:
To assist private property owners within the Wildland Urban Interface footprint with fire mitigation, fire awareness, forest health according to the tenents of the Cohesive Strategy; to make the community safer from fire danger, improve property appearance, and have fun.
NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse’ By the Numbers (02/21/2025):
To date, the efforts of this completely volunteer organization have resulted in the following:
Total NoFloCo Members – 798
Total Purple Helmets - 98
Total Property Assessments – 412
Fire Mitigation Projects Completed – 208
Acres Mitigated – 280
Cords of Firewood Donated – 309.75
Subdivisions Impacted – 23
Volunteer Hours – 8,099
Trained Wildland Firefighter II's – 42
Wildland Saws Trained Type A or B - 16
Colorado Classroom Certified Burners - 17
BTUs of Fuel Removed - 8,462,000,000 (yes that is billions)
All of the above have been completed on private property located within the WUI and in areas where significant values at risk reside. It is our belief that the mission of the Colorado Wildfire Matters Review Committee - the study of wildfire prevention and mitigation - is closely aligned with the mission of NoFloCo. The NoFloCo organization continues to provide mitigation services to private property owners, and the issue NoFloCo are encountering is the same issue that many are facing - the efficient and effective elimination of biomass, i.e. fuel. There has been a significant amount of mitigation efforts, but the elimination of the fuel is becoming a huge problem.
Safety Statement as of February 9, 2023:
We generally mark trees and habitat zones three days before a workday. We do this to ensure that we know property boundaries, have been thoughtful about which trees will be eliminated, to ensure we maintain and improve habitat for wildlife, and to protect trees to which property owners have an emotional attachment.
We always have at least 10 certified Fire Fighter 2s on workdays. NoFloCo will soon have 42 such volunteers within the organization. Some of the FF2s in our group have much more training than just FF2. They have been professional fire fighters,and hold a red card. We also have current and former US Forestry employees who have done proscribed burns professionally. Additionally, we have two professional arborists who lead our sawyers. Don and Toni Moore have done controlled slash burns for 20 years in Florissant with no accidents or incidents.
All NoFloCo burns have a Teller County Burn Permit in the name of the property owner. We follow best practices, and are hosting a Certified Control Burn training for NoFloCo soon. We always have a safety check-in table, with safety sign-ins and reminders for all attendees. We bring a type 7 Fire Engine to all burns, to be prepared for the worst case emergency. Our NoFloCo slash burns only occur after notifying the Sheriff’s Department, the local Fire Department, the Office of Emergency Management, and the County Commissioners. We have dozens of fire monitors when we burn, burn only on approved burn days, and notify the public beforehand. All this is over and above the requirements from Teller County. (As of October 2023 and the edited Ordinance #17 for Teller County, NoFloCo has ceased its burning operations.)
If anyone has any issue or concern about our safety procedures, we welcome them to call us or to make an unannounced visit to any of our work days. Our phone number and email addresses are posted publicly many places donmoore@nofloco.org or 719-839-0860) and we will happily and respectfully address any concerns anyone has. If they have criticisms that we can learn from we are very willing to listen and adapt as necessary.
Lots to unpack in this 2 minute video of a recent NoFloCo Workday in Spring Valley Subdivision. One, notice the age range, fitness level range, and skill range. Everyone can help. Whether you are operating a power-saw or a stew ladle, your help is appreciated and necessary.
Next notice we have lots of ways to communicate and signal to keep everyone safe. Boring and tedious work is transformed into a fun outdoor exercise when many friends gather to get the job done.
Note: the wood stacked against the living tree was immediately loaded into a trailer to be delivered as donated firewood (we know that stacking against a living tree is a no-no). All trees over 3 to 4 inches in diameter are felled by S212 Certified Sawyers.
At 1:30 you see our innovative "burn snake" that is getting attention from Fire professionals across the state. By creating a long curvy walking path after the controlled burn is finished we are also installing a safety "fire break" and a brush truck trail for firefighters.
The posse members of NoFloCo are some of the very best people in Teller County. Together they have served the community with over $130K in labor, donations, and services. They are heroes who make the community safer one property at a time.
Enjoy this short video and look for your friends and neighbors in the woods serving others. https://youtu.be/lMdCsUrdYmc?si=lrwlvWE45maIqJuM
For all those NoFloCo Posse' Members that have attended the Colorado Certified Burner "B" Training and Certification, per the Training & Student Work Book we were provided and as outlined the Colorado Prescribed Burning Act of 2013; in addition to preparing the Burn Plan an additional document is needed from the Private Land Owner. This is the Private Land Owner Ignition Authorization Form. For all Certified Burners please note that all the items on the Form must be discussed with the Private Land Owner and signatures received from the Private Land Owner and yourself as the Certified Burner prior to ignition. A copy of this Form is provided in our Training & Student Work Book as Handout #2a. Thanks to the DFPC, Colorado Fire Camp, and our legal staff for keeping us updated on our responsibilities
Questions?
Contact donmoore@nofloco.org or text 719-839-0860 to get more information on NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse