A key lesson from the Marshall Fire nearly three years ago is that without reducing fire risks around homes, it’s hard to stop flames from jumping from house to house. The fire spread through hurricane-force winds and embers from burning grass and fences that landed on decks and vegetation, sparking flames.
This is called home-hardening — using fire-resistant materials and maintaining a “defensible space” clear of flammable plants like junipers, which cuts the risk of neighborhood wildfires.
Boulder fire officials have long warned that home-hardening must become part of local homeownership, given the fire-prone landscape and a warming climate that’s increasing fire risk. However, no city ordinance currently requires residents to remove junipers, clear five feet around their homes or replace fences.
For the first time, the City of Boulder is offering residents up to $1,000 to start fire mitigation work around their homes. The Wildfire Resilience Assistance Program, or WRAP, complements another Boulder Fire-Rescue initiative that provides detailed home assessments to help people make their homes more fire-resilient. While knowing what to do to fireproof a home is one thing, paying for those often costly solutions is another.
Eligible homes are in Boulder’s designated wildland-urban interface areas, including the western edges of town and some scattered high-risk neighborhoods. Eligibility is shown on this red-highlighted map. Applications for 2024 funding are open through Nov. 30, first-come, first-served, with grants reopening early next year.
To apply, homeowners must check the map and request a home assessment. Afterward, they can choose eligible mitigation work and request financial assistance. Since last fall, about 200 assessments have been completed, with 177 new requests since WRAP launched on Sept. 10, according to David Lowrey, Boulder Fire-Rescue’s chief fire marshal.
Lowrey said homeowners felt paralyzed by $20,000 project estimates and took no action after their assessments. The program encourages any level of home-hardening.
“Very, very small items can make a big difference,” Lowrey told Boulder Reporting Lab. Simple fixes include screening vents and removing flammable bushes. Larger tasks, like tree removal, replacing mulch with rock or installing non-combustible gutters, are important but likely exceed available grant funding.
About $380,000 is allocated to the program this year, funded by the climate tax, approved by voters as ballot measure 2A in 2022. The program is a joint effort between the city’s financial departments and Boulder Fire-Rescue. City staff said there is more funding than completed home assessments and don’t expect budgeting issues for this pilot phase.
As city budget talks ramp up, with the 2025 budget set for approval soon, some councilmembers have voiced concerns that the city isn’t investing enough in wildfire preparedness. In 2025, the climate tax will provide $1.5 million for wildfire resilience through the Community Wildfire Resilience program, which funds the home-hardening grants. Other funds are allocated across departments for forest thinning, prescribed burns, evacuation planning and emergency services.
“We need to up the pace at which we make Boulder a more protected city,” Councilmember Mark Wallach wrote on Sept. 23 in a Hotline post, expressing hope for additional money in 2026 to strengthen wildfire defenses.
He urged the city to find additional funds to “substantially expand” the grant program for residents who fireproof their homes, such as removing junipers, a popular landscaping choice in Boulder.
The concern comes as Boulder has been on the edge of evacuation orders amid year-round fire seasons. Many city homeowners are also seeing surging home insurance rates or losing coverage as insurers grow increasingly unwilling to take risks in Boulder. Boulder’s 80302 ZIP code, for instance, has been deemed very high risk by some insurers.
According to Lowrey, mitigation efforts may not lower premiums but could prevent homes from being dropped by insurance companies. “What we want to do as a city is to give the insurance companies a reason to say yes rather than no,” he said.
An alternate, income-qualified assistance process is available for homeowners earning 60% or less of Boulder County’s median household income, offering up to $2,000 in grant funding for home-hardening. Home assessments are free and available year-round.
Separately, Boulder County’s new wildfire mitigation rebate program, funded by a 2022 sales tax, offers up to $500 per household for fireproofing efforts: removing junipers, eliminating wooden fences, clearing five feet of defensible space and screening vents. All Boulder County homeowners are eligible to apply, with the goal of using the $2.5 million in funds by this fall.
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