GILPIN COUNTY – Timberline Fire Protection District (TFPD) hosted a showing of the documentary “Fireforest” at Fire Station 3 on Saturday February 8, 2025.

The meeting room was full for the film presentation. After the film, representatives from a number of forest health organizations were on hand to answer questions about forest health and wildfire mitigation efforts.

The producer of “Fireforest,” Evan Barrientos, attended virtually and spoke about his reasons for making the film. Barrientos said he made the film to help repair our relationship with fire because it has gotten “a bit out of whack.” He had worked in land management positions that used prescribed fires with great success to restore and maintain ecosystems.

Barrientos has also seen the bad side of fire, with the immense recent wildfires, smoke, and damage. Today, wildfires threaten our homes, land, water, and air as vast armies fight them each year. His observation is that fire has always been a part of the landscape; that it has shaped our forests and will continue to do so.

Barrientos produced “Fireforest” because he felt that we need to hear stories about fires that aren’t about being helpless victims, and about how we can live with fire to maintain our landscapes. He wanted to tell stories of proactive stewardship, and “Fireforest” is one of those stories.

“Fireforest” is about what happened when the 2020 Cameron Peak wildfire, currently the biggest wildfire in Colorado history, burned onto a property that had been previously treated with mitigation and prescribed burns.

The land was owned by a retreat center, and forest restoration work had been ongoing for the previous 15 years, including adjacent properties.

Spoiler alert: when the wildfire reached the property, it came down out of the crowns, and key buildings on the property were spared. This demonstrated to Barrientos what is possible if we take a proactive role in forest restoration so our communities and forests can successfully survive the fires that are inevitable.

After the film there was a question-and-answer period with representatives from a number of forest and emergency services organizations.

TFPD, the Gilpin Sheriff’s department, the CSU Extension service, Jefferson County Conservation District, Colorado State Forest Service, and Clear Creek Watershed & Forest Health Partnership all had representatives in attendance.

Questions ranged from proper building materials to harden structures to residential thinning strategies.

The meeting ended with a raffle drawing and followup individual conversations with the attending representatives.

“Fireforest” can be viewed in its entirety at fireforestphoto.com/film.

The next Forest Health Movie Matinee event will be held on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at Fire Station 3 at 1 p.m. “The Fire Problem” by Sean O’Brien and Antonio Torres deals with understanding the challenges of wildfires in a changing climate.

Space is limited, so contact Jennifer Cook (Jennifer.Cook@colostate.edu/303-582-9106) for registration information.