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 (06/01/2024):

• Total NoFloCo Members – 526

• Total Purple Helmets - 79

• Total Property Assessments –317

• Fire Mitigation Projects Completed – 148

• Acres Mitigated – 247.5

• Cords of Firewood Donated – 270

• Subdivisions Impacted – 16 (Aspen Moors, Arabian Acres, Colorado Mountain Estates, Druid Hills, Florissant Heights, Indian Creek, La Montana Mesa, Trout Creek, Woodland Park, Wagon Tongue, Spring Valley, Valley High, La Montana Mesa, Forest Glen)

• Volunteer Hours – 5736

• Trained Wildland Firefighter II – 42

• Wildland Saws Trained Type A or B - 16

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. 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.

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 (runningman2626@yahoo.com 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