After an unseasonably dry winter, LA Plata County prepared for wildfire season throughout the week of April 21st. The La Plata County Office of Emergency Management held the fifth annual wildfire preparedness exercise to educate residents and prepare emergency responders ahead of wildfire season. You are watching the Local NEWS Network, brought to you by Sky Ute Casino and the FLC Center for Innovation. I'm Sadie Smith. LA Plata County spent an entire week conducting a wildfire response exercise to prepare for potential wildfires this summer. The exercises kicked off with a code red alert that was sent out as a test to everyone in La Plata County, encouraging more residents to register with the system. On Tuesday, LA Plata County residents were invited to a community wildfire workshop at the fairgrounds where emergency personnel shared how they will prepare the community to respond to a wildfire in a panel discussed how residents can adapt to the threat of a wildfire this season.

Be real direct here for a minute. We can't fireproof the forest so everyone can enjoy their super flammable houses. We got to get this right.

Navigating homeowners' insurance, signing up for code red and preparing a go kit were highlighted throughout the discussion.

A go kit is a box or a Tupperware with things that are important to you to have in there. You might have some water, batteries, gloves, mask, goggles, some food, some prescriptions, some food for your pets, things that are valuable to you, and put your other information on an iCloud or make sure you have backup storage for things.

Residents visited educational stations to learn what to do to prevent fires. To protect your home, for example, you can create a defensible space and employ fire mitigation strategies around your property.

So from the foundation out, we work to clear that first zone, which is zero to five feet, just clearing anything flammable around your home. From there, you kind of take it a step further, clearing the vegetation in the trees, but really anything that you can do to reduce anything that is combustible or flammable near your home.

The dry winter has put the region at significant risk if we don't receive heavy rains this spring, conditions that require increased vigilance and personal responsibility when enjoying public lands.

You know, we want to camp, we want to recreate. We can do all of those things responsibly. So if we're having campfires, making sure they're out cold before we leave, if we're towing stuff, making sure our chains aren't dragging on the ground. You know, we're not using fireworks on public lands 'cause they're prohibited. Just being mindful, being responsible.

To finish off the week, the Office of Emergency Management conducted evacuation exercises in Edgemont, the North Animas Valley and Falls Creek Ranch. The drills helped emergency responders and residents hone their skills in the event of an actual disaster. Find more information about this and other stories online at durangolocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of The Local NEWS Network. I'm Sadie Smith.