Fire Safety Task Force

I proposed a fire safety task force at the 2/18 council meeting, which the council supported. As the single member of the task force I’m forging ahead, but I’m not working alone. I’ve been reaching out to experts and residents, and will continue to do so.

I’ve spent the last 2 weeks putting together an outline of topics we need to address to make our town more fire safe. The list has both expanded and been refined with the help of J Logan, Denise Gluhan, town staff and several engaged residents. I will continue to reach out for more input.

The topics at a high level are:

• Assess WUI (Wildland urban Interface) designation

• Review town ordinances

• Prioritize fire hardening actions

• Bring evacuation plans up to date

• Establish on-going communication and education for residents

• Participate in action by the State to increase fire insurance availability

• Determine how to measure success

I will continue to work with experts and residents to add details until the 3/18 council meeting. I’ll take that opportunity to share the progress so far with the council and public for additional feedback. The next step will be to turn a list of topics into an action plan with a timeline. The end product will be a living public document with a schedule for actions, tentatively called the Fire Safety Action Plan. I hope to present this document at the May council meeting, but we’re not waiting to get started. I’ll be more specific with my next email

I encourage you to share your opinions/thoughts/comments with me. I’m happy to share the current version of the document with considerably more details, just send me an email.

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