The Town of Lyons is considering an ordinance that would make it the first town in Colorado to require existing homeowners — not just new construction — to complete wildfire mitigation work on their properties. The proposal comes two years after the Stone Canyon Fire tore through the area near Lyons, destroying several homes and killing one person, according to fire officials.
According to Denver7, the Lyons building department outlined a potential ordinance in a July 30 memo, and the Board of Trustees discussed enforcement and cost concerns about the plan on Aug. 3. Trustees revived talks about a wildfire ordinance in July after adopting Colorado's statewide Wildfire Resiliency Code earlier this year. That state code, created under Senate Bill 23-166, sets structural hardening and defensible space standards for new construction, additions and major exterior alterations over 500 square feet in wildland-urban interface zones — but it exempts existing home interiors, minor repairs and routine maintenance, according to the Town of Lyons.
Mark Browning, of the Lyons building department, said state requirements for wildfire-resistant materials in new homes and remodels will not provide enough protection for the town, the report notes. With roughly 740 residential properties in Lyons and only about 10 vacant residential lots left, the vast majority of the town's housing stock predates the new state code and would otherwise remain untouched by it.
What the Draft Ordinance Would Require
Under the potential ordinance, homeowners would be required to replace wood fences connected to homes, add mesh screens on outside vents, clear combustible materials within five feet of homes, and remove debris and flammable vegetation from under decks. That focus on five-foot noncombustible perimeters and vent mesh retrofits stems from technical analysis presented to town officials showing that airborne ember showers blown ahead of flame fronts are the leading cause of structural ignition in wildfire zones — with embers capable of traveling more than a mile on strong winds.
Josie Wratten, whose family was ordered to evacuate during the Stone Canyon Fire, said wildfire mitigation is important for the neighborhood. Her family completed mitigation work through Boulder County's Wildfire Partners program, removing juniper trees, adding mesh screens to exterior vents, and replacing outside planters with river rock, per Denver7's reporting.
Balancing Mandates With Incentives
During the Aug. 4 meeting, the Board of Trustees instructed staff to draft mandatory mitigation measures for existing properties while also prioritizing grant funding, public education, and a neighborhood ambassador pilot program, according to Citizen Portal. Trustees asked staff to develop cost scenarios and voluntary pilot options before moving toward enforcement. Town memos also include strengthening amendments to the existing state wildfire resiliency code, creating the ambassador program, partnering with outside agencies to perform mitigation work, and increasing financial incentives for expensive mitigation projects.
Lyons has offered $500 per property to match Wildfire Partners' own $500 cost reimbursement, but the countywide program has only had about 20 Lyons property owners complete mitigation steps in two years — a slow pace that has fed concerns about how quickly a mandate could realistically be met. Amy Schwartz, a Lyons resident, said she was concerned about the consequences for homeowners who do not complete required mitigation, Denver7 reported.
Volunteer Labor and Regional Support
To ease that burden, volunteer organization Team Rubicon has offered, alongside Boulder County Wildfire Partners and the Boulder County Sheriff's Fire Management team, to provide volunteer labor for physical mitigation work on private properties, with town staff meeting with the partner groups to structure coordinated work days. Boulder County's Wildfire Partners also expanded its financial assistance programs this past April, offering rebates and up to $500 per unit for multi-family housing communities to clear volatile fuels such as juniper bushes, which contain high concentrations of flammable oils.
The stakes were underscored again this summer when Western Boulder County, including Lyons, was placed under Stage 2 Fire Restrictions in July due to extreme dry weather and elevated regional fire risk, banning outdoor open flames, campfires, chainsaws, and fireworks. The Lyons Fire Protection District, which has served the area's more than 6,200 residents across 66 square miles since 1883, includes the Town of Lyons as its central hub of over 2,000 residents.
Next Steps for the Ordinance
Browning plans to post a draft ordinance for public review ahead of a town hall scheduled for Sept. 3 at the Lyons Regional Library, where the town will gather public input. Browning does not expect a final decision to come out of that meeting, according to Denver7's reporting.
The Stone Canyon Fire that is driving Lyons' proposal burned more than 1,500 acres — 1,557 acres by the time it was fully contained, per Boulder County — after igniting at a residential property on Eagle Ridge Road near Lyons in July 2024. The fire's sole fatality was later confirmed by the Boulder County Coroner's Office, which identified the remains as those of 74-year-old Kevin James Tracy, using circumstantial evidence, per Hoodline.
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