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<br />"Structures hamper wildfire <br />control efforts." <br /> <br />"The interface is more <br />l " <br />comp ex. <br /> <br />2 <br /> <br />The Wake Fire, South Canyon Fire and Roxborough Fire Complex (see <br />Appendix B), the most threatening of the many 1994 wildfires, focused <br />attention on the growing wildfire problem. <br /> <br />The Wildland/Urban Interface <br /> <br />The wildfire protection situation has been changing for the past 30 years. <br />Now, the need to also protect structures and improvements as well as <br />natural resources from wildfires is becoming widely recognized. <br /> <br />Traditionally, wildfires have been suppressed by personnel from forestry, <br />county or rural fire agencies accustomed to working in forest, brush or <br />range wildlands. Strategic suppression options included use of natural <br />barriers, burning out or backfiring additional acres of land or falling back <br />to the next ridge to gain control. Distance and area could be sacrificed to <br />fiTe to gain a control advantage. <br /> <br />But the growing intrusion of structures and other improvements into <br />wildlands has resulted in a condition some call the "wildland/urban <br />interface. " <br /> <br />But the word "interface" does not describe Colorado's situation well. The <br />development of highly intermingled private lands among public lands in <br />the state has brought about more of an "intermix" - a true random <br />mixture of urban and wild lands, This intermix, however, will be referred <br />to as "interface" for the remainder of this plan. <br /> <br />The interface problem is everywhere and growing - hunting cabins in <br />Gunnison County, condominiums in Pitkin County, clusters of lakeside. <br />homes in La Plata County, ski resorts in Summit County, summer homes <br />communities in Larimer County, subdivisions in Costilla County, <br />residential developments in Jefferson County and city growth in EI Paso <br />County. <br /> <br />