Routt County officials are taking gradual steps toward implementing construction codes intended to protect homes and businesses from wildfire dangers as part of the 2021 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code.

Routt County Building Official Todd Carr said four sections from the wildfire resiliency codes will be implemented countywide across all municipal jurisdictions relating to wildfire protective roof assemblies, roof valley flashings, gutters and downspouts and vents. The measures will apply to both residential and commercial buildings for new construction, additions, alternations, repairs and replacements.

Those measures represent only about 2% of the overall six-chapter 2021 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code, or IWUIC.

Josh Hankes, Routt County Wildfire Mitigation Council executive director, said the measures to be adopted represent “low-hanging fruit” but are “critical first steps to fundamentally changing the hardness or wildfire resiliency of the community.”

“Preventing a wildfire from becoming a structure fire is key, and there are lots of tools available,” Hankes said. “By adopting portions of the IWUI building code, we are taking an important first step toward improving wildfire resilience at the policy level. Fundamentally, we will need to do much more, but I have tremendous respect for everyone working on incremental advances to this cause here locally.”

Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue Chief Chuck Cerasoli said municipal leaders, planning and zoning officials, and the five fire districts in Routt County currently are working on adoption in 2024 of more wildfire resiliency codes related to landscaping, defensible space and fire management plans around structures. The review is being conducted with the help of the Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire program at Headwaters Economics headquartered in Montana.

“Science has shown with wildfire that one of the best defenses is creating defensible space and hardening structures,” Cerasoli said. “The next big step important to me is having a universal landscape code and talking about defensible space around structures and that next level of protection.”

“I was happy we were able to get some of that accomplished, integrated and implemented, but I’m also looking forward to getting the rest of it adopted and implemented,” the chief said.

One example of those priorities is making sure fire trucks have access along driveways so the path is not impaired by overgrown vegetation. The chief said fire districts are already receiving a lot of inquiries from HOAs and individual homeowners about what they should be doing on their properties to prevent wildfire spread.

Longtime builder Ron Davies, CEO at Fair & Square Construction in Steamboat Springs, said the new wildfire resilient building codes are “pretty easy” and “not a big lift to meet these requirements” for custom home builders.

Individual homeowners and remodelers may need to pay more attention to the changes to use Class A roofing materials since Routt County previously required Class B. Class A roofs offer the highest fire resistance with materials such as fiberglass asphalt composition shingles and metal roofs.

“Due to the fact that insurance companies will almost always require Class A roofing anymore in order to insure the property, or when a roof replacement claim comes through, we would very rarely ever see anyone not install Class A roofing,” Carr said.

Gutters and downspouts in both residential and commercial buildings must be constructed after Jan. 1 of noncombustible materials, although nonmetal gutters or downspouts are rare in Routt County due to freezing and ice damage concerns.

The additional codes address size limits and screening for vents into homes in order to protect against fire ember intrusion for new construction or additions. All vents on roofs, exterior walls or soffits for buildings must be covered with non-combustible, corrosion-resistant mesh with openings not to exceed one-fourth inch and be designed and approved to prevent flame or ember penetration into the structure.

The wildfire resiliency codes partner with the Jan. 1 overall building codes update across Routt County with the move from 2018 ICC Codes to 2021 ICC building and energy codes. The regional building department oversees code updates on a three-year schedule. With the forthcoming change in codes, the building department has been “inundated” with permit applications this month for designs under the current 2018 codes, Carr said.

This week, the building department is hosting free training for all contractors, subcontractors and design professionals working across the county. The training covers building, energy, plumbing, mechanical and fuel gas codes for both residential and commercial buildings. Training also will address the new state-adopted Colorado Model Electric and Solar Ready Codes.