BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Before a Boulder County homeowner saw his home threatened by a wildfire, he was threatened by an insurance company that was going to drop him if he didn't do fire mitigation around his home. Nick Schneider and his wife did just in time for it to work.
Months later, the Stone Canyon Fire erupted.
"It's like it is some miracle but it is not a miracle," he said as he looked at his property surrounded by a burn scar. "This is where our mitigation efforts paid off."
Schneider chose to minimize the threat of wildfire around his home on Stone Canyon Road. Wildfire mitigation helped push the Stone Canyon Fire down a different path.
"It reached a region where we had cut down all kinds of bushes, mowed down grasses so the fire at this location basically ran out of fuel," he said.
His home is now an island inside a burn scar just like others in the canyon. He credits his family's decision to remove landscaping that could catch their house on fire.
"As a result of climate change, the land is so much dryer, the days are so much hotter, the risk of fire is so much higher," he said.
He worked with Boulder's fire mitigation program, Wildfire Partners, just months before the disaster. The organization's mission is to educate, motivate, and support county residents in preparing for future wildfire.
"Any expenses they spend, we reimburse them up to $2,000 for that mitigation work so to really get them motivated," said Meg Halford, Forest and Grassland Project Coordinator for Wildfire Partners.
The program provides individual home assessments to residents of western Boulder County. According to Wildfire Partners, 18 homes in the Stone Canyon Fire footprint participated in the program. Nine of those survived.
"Our number one goal is life safety, right? And that is not only for getting the residents out safely during an evacuation but it really is getting in our fire personnel to be able to protect the home," Halford said.
The choice to do fire mitigation around a home gives firefighters an advantage and keeps crews safe. Seth McKinney is the Fire Management Officer for Boulder County. He said decisions like the Schneiders' greatly helped first responders during the Stone Canyon Fire.
"The more people can do beforehand, the wider area they take, the better they are setting up firefighters to go in and protect their homes," McKinney said. "Help us go in and be able to feel confident and comfortable making a stand."
Several homes in the canyon were feet from disaster. Other families lost everything. Three homes around Schneider are gone.
"It was very hard with the neighbors we know well," Schneider said.
He feels lucky to have his house. He hopes his decision will inspire others to do the same.
"This is a real message that the mitigation has mattered," he said.