Willow Brook Metropolitan District

By now, many of you have seen the Summit Daily article on outdoor home sprinklers systems.  While in some communities this may be a workable wildfire tool, in Ruby Ranch it really creates more problems than solutions.  

We want to provide you with practical information on protecting your home, as well as the overall Ruby Ranch Community.  Some of this is repetitive however it is important for everyone to keep this information front and center. Right now, it is better to be wildfire ready rather than rely on tools like sprinklers.

What are the Best Methods to Protect your Home from Wildfire:

The goal is to prevent your home from igniting from embers or direct flame spread, thereby making it safer during a wildfire.  The first proven solution is to follow the principles of the Firewise™️ Program. Focus on reducing wildfire risk by creating defensible space, managing vegetation, and using ignition-resistant building materials. Key best practices include clearing flammable debris, thinning and spacing vegetation around a home, and using fire-resistant building materials and landscaping. 

Defensible space and home protection

• Create a 3-5 foot "ember-resistant zone" around your home, free of flammable materials like mulch, debris, and combustible plants.
• Use non-combustible materials for things like walkways, mulch near your home, and retaining walls.
• Protect vents and other openings with screens to prevent embers from getting inside.
• Choose fire-resistant building materials for siding and other exterior elements. 
• Establish a "defensible space" of 30 feet by clearing dead vegetation, pruning trees and shrubs, and removing stored firewood near your home.

Landscaping and vegetation management 

• Space plants appropriately to prevent a "fuel ladder" effect where fire can climb from the ground into tree canopies.
• Use native vegetation that is adapted to local conditions and requires less water.
• Avoid planting highly flammable species like junipers close to the house.
• Prune tree limbs to be 6-10 feet from the ground.
• Plant low-growing, low-flammability plants in the area 30-100 feet from your home. 

Choose fire-resistant building materials 

• Fiber Cement Siding / Cladding
• Steel and Aluminum Siding and Roofing Materials or Certain Asphalt Coverings
• Use products like Rhino Shield Coating around the base of your home

You want the materials or coatings to have a Fire Rating of “A” or “1”

So why are outdoor sprinklers problematic:

WBMD Water supply is very fragile, and outdoor water uses are limited. To install an effective sprinkler system, you will need to install your own cistern, pump, and power supply.

• The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) currently has no data to estimate the effectiveness of exterior sprinkler systems.     
• IBHS recommends if you use outside sprinklers, you need stand-alone personal water systems - i.e. a home cistern with trucked in water

Wildfire conditions can create challenges to the effectiveness of an external sprinklers

•  High Wind speeds can disperse water away from the intended area and create evaporation. Wildfires create their own wind.  Both the Marshall Fire and East Troublesome fires had wind speeds recorded from 90-130mph.
•  High temperatures intensify evaporation rates of water coming from a sprayer.

Sprinkler pipes may freeze in winter months.  Plastic pipes may melt during a fire.

It is a danger to firefighters to drain the WBMD water system because the firefighters depend on our water pressure to be there if/when they need it.  

 The WBMD storage tanks are linked via an interconnect system. If water levels drop on one side of the ranch, the interconnect system will feed water from the other side potentially until all the water is used. Consequently, any one home can drain the entire community water system. (And if we have two neighbors who are depending on exterior sprinklers, neither may have water to support their systems.)

XCEL power shut offs are inevitable; communication with a sprinkler system may break down:

• Each homeowner would need to install a separate, stand-alone power supply for both water pumps and WiFi communication with their system (if they have that capability).
•  If the power does go out, WBMD pumps for the wells and from the well to storage tanks will not function.
• Cell towers may be damaged by wildfire. Satellite communication with a water sprinkler system may be difficult with smoke-filled skies potentially blocking any signal.

Bottom line: Current data shows that it is better to be wildfire prepared than depend on a sprinkler. Please take some time to review our resources below.