Colorado teens help protect Lafayette mobile homeowners with fire mitigation efforts at no cost

This week, crews of teens are working with Boulder County Wildfire Partners at the Lafayette Gardens Mobile Home Park to help residents mitigate wildfire risk. The project is at no cost to residents and funded by Boulder County's wildfire mitigation tax.

A team of teenagers and leaders working with Teen Inc. Youth Corps, which partners with the county, is spending the summer completing the projects. So far, officials estimate the team has built barriers around a dozen mobile homes and is still knocking on doors to offer any resident in the park.

"We're just spreading an area of gravel about two inches thick underneath it," crew leader Hannah Mason said. "We have this weed barrier here that'll prevent weeds from growing and keep this area nice and easy to maintain."

Boulder County Wildfire Partners says they're working to help mitigate fire risk here in part because the Lafayette Gardens Mobile Home Park is home to many low-income residents, where the cost of wildfire mitigation can be out of reach.

Resident Ralph Iller says he's grateful for the help.

"With not having a sprinkler system, it's nice that they do the stone work," Iller said. "I could not afford it."

Iller knows firsthand how devastating Colorado disasters can be.

He moved to the mobile home park after losing his home in the Marshall Fire. He hopes this mitigation effort helps him stay safely put in Lafayette.

"I lost a house in the fire, I lost a house in '13 in the flood, so it is Colorado," Iller said. "You have to live with it."

For many of the young people completing the work, they've also seen the impacts of wildfire up close.

"I've had so many friends who've been impacted by these fires and who've lost their homes or have been evacuated at various times," Mason said. "And like myself, living in a mountain community, that's always kind of a constant concern in our minds."

Mason said spending the summer helping protect neighbors gives the work a deeper meaning.

"This work is really meaningful because it's a way to help keep homes safe—especially those who might be a little more vulnerable in our communities," she said.

Crews are expected to remain at the Lafayette Gardens Mobile Home Park through the rest of the week before returning this fall.

Residents interested in learning more about available wildfire mitigation assistance can contact Boulder County Wildfire Partners.