Fire talk — Story residents urged to keep properties clear, informed of grant program
SHERIDAN — During the Elk Fire last fall, Story residents banded together to help clear pine needles and fallen branches from their neighbors’ yards.
A few homeowners from the unincorporated community watched Fireforest, a short film about the Cameron Peak Fire in northern Colorado, April 26. The film describes how better forest and property management helped prevent the fire from having a much larger impact.
Story Volunteer Fire Department Chief Watt said the Elk Fire served as a wake up call for Story’s homeowners.
“I think that was the huge eye opener for most people, is they need to start managing their properties,” Watt said.
As the fire encroached on Story, Watt said the volunteer fire department encouraged folks to clear their roofs of pine needles.
“If you’re not fortunate enough to have a metal roof, man, you really have to be careful about the pine needles. And we were just having people clear off their porches and anything (else),” Watt said.
Dumpsters were placed throughout the community, filling with yard waste before being hauled away as residents and property owners cleared their properties last fall.
Small actions, like clearing the roof and porch, can do a lot to help protect homes and neighboring properties. Doing so, Sheridan County Fuels Mitigation Coordinator Paul Wright said, can help protect from ember storms landing on or near a home and igniting it.
Wright also noted the Wyoming State Forestry Division has a cost-share grant program available to homeowners who take fire mitigation actions on their property within the Wildland Urban Interface, which is where structures meet wildland vegetation.
Grant amounts vary based on the location of work done, though property owners would receive no more than 50% of a project’s cost. The work, according to the grant document Wright shared with attendees over the weekend, centers around tree thinning and pruning, as well as fuel removal.
Grants for work in a structure’s defensible space are capped at $3,000. Defensible space is a 100-foot radius around a structure.
Fuel treatment work is completed in areas other than the defensible space. Those grants are capped at $1,250 per acre.
Fuel break work is completed in “key areas identified by a Resource Professional and in the Wildfire Mitigation Plan,” the grant document reads. Those key areas could include property lines and road features, among others. The fuel break grants are capped at $1,375 per acre.
The program has existed in Sheridan County for about 20 years, and Wright estimated county residents have cost-shared more than $250,000 for the program. Wright said he hopes more residents participate in the program.
“In a community like (Story), the more people on board that we can get, the better,” Wright said. “...If you can get your neighbors on board, it becomes landscape level and it’s better for the whole community.”
This story was published on May 1, 2025.