Dear Editor,

The devastating fires that swept through county grasslands on December 30, 2021, left thousands with unimaginable loss. But though two people are still unaccounted for, there has been no reported loss of human life, thanks to firefighters, police, Sheriff’s office workers, volunteers, and the county government that provided for a reliable, knowledgeable, well-financed system of emergency response.

The fires and their aftermath demonstrated both the reality of living in the Age of Fire and the fundamental responsibility of government to protect lives.

In his 2021 book, The Pyrocene: How We Created An Age of Fire, and What Happens Next, Stephen J. Pyne, ASU professor and historian of fire, writes:

”Pyrocene proposes a fire-centric perspective on how humans continue to shape the Earth. It renames and redefines the Anthropocene according to humanity’s primary ecological signature, which is our ability to manipulate fire…It proposes an analogy for the future—the sum of our practices is creating a fire age that is equivalent in stature to the ice ages of the Pleistocene…

“Propagating ice previously helped push the planet into an ice age; likewise, our binge burning is now propelling the Earth into a fire age.

“We have created a Pyrocene. Now we have to live in it.”

At Sheriff Pelle’s press conference the morning of December 31st, Mike Smith described the county’s first priority in responding to the fire: Life safety of residents and firefighters before everything else.

How high on the Town’s priority list are the lives and safety of residents within and outside Town boundaries? This is a critical time for all of us, especially the BOT and Town officials, to look unflinchingly at the facts surrounding our Town Government’s ability to provide basic safety to residents.

It took residents of the Rock Creek development 1-1/2 hours to evacuate their neighborhood. What is the Town’s capacity to evacuate residents? How much of a problem are: one egress route through Town, insufficient egress options from Big Springs, limited capacity of water system—including aging pipes in Town core--for firefighting, financially limited police department, and BOT’s desire to facilitate large developments outside Town boundaries, including one very dense development planned at the end of a single road egress?

Discussions shouldn’t be limited to BOT meetings but should include the Nederland Fire Protection District, Police Department, Public Works Department, Town Hall, Planning Commission, building and zoning officials, advisory board members, and residents. This is an “all-handson deck” moment. The revision of Nederland’s Comprehensive Plan will provide a framework for broad community involvement in responding to the current crisis and should start ASAP.

This was a big wake-up call. We must face facts. And we must strengthen our partnership with the County, first of all by working with county officials on a Pyrocene-suitable IGA (Comprehensive Development Plan and Intergovernmental Agreement).

Sincerely,

Susan Wagner

Nederland