Wildland Home

The Wildland Fire Management program was initiated in 1990 with the hiring of the Wildland Fire Coordinator. The program is funded by the fire department, Open Space and Mountain Parks and is critical in establishing a comprehensive program to address the threat of wildfire in our community.

In total, the City of Boulder owns approximately 50,000 acres of public lands and watershed. This nationally recognized program is successful because of the close working relationship between the local, state, and federal agencies. Since 1990, over 2,000 city and county firefighters have been trained in wildland firefighting techniques and urban interface suppression operations.

The Wildland Fire Division possesses incident management expertise recognized on a national level. Personnel annually participate in national fire suppression and emergency management efforts. Our personnel have assisted at the World Trade Center, Columbia Shuttle Recovery Operations, Hurricane Katrina and Rita. All Division personnel are qualified according to the National Wildfire Coordination Group Standards.

Members of The Wildland Fire Division:

• Greg Toll, the Division Chief is qualified as an Incident Commander Type 3, Safety Officer Type 2, Division/Group Supervisor, Helicopter Manager and a Burn Boss Type 2.
• Dave Zader, the Fire Management Coordinator is qualified as an Incident Commander Type 4, Helicopter Manager, Division/Group Supervisor, Firing Boss, Burn Boss Type 2 trainee.
• Brian Oliver, the Fuels Management Supervisor is qualified as an Incident Commander Type 4, Task Force Leader, Helicopter Manager, Firing Boss and a Burn Boss Type 2 trainee.

The crew responds to local, regional and national incidents, provide wildfire mitigation and operational skills for forestry management. They also responds as part of the Boulder County Wildland Fire Task Force.

Wildfire suppression, prescribed fire, wildfire training, mitigation, and forestry management, are the main missions of the Division. The City of Boulder became one of the first communities in the nation to ban wood shake roofs and design a wildfire hazard and identification system.

For over a decade, the division has implemented prescribed fire in the complex ecosystems of the urban-interface. Working in conjunction with our land management departments within the city, we have thinned over 200 acres and annually treat approximately 300 acres of tall grass and forested lands with prescribed fire. All these operations are on lands in close proximity to residents.

The  City of Boulder contracts with 12 fire protection districts in Boulder County that have initial attack responsibility on city public lands. The Wildland Fire Division management staff provides oversight on all prescribed and wildfires, while the mitigation/fire crew provides suppression operations.

Many incidents in Boulder County are multi-jurisdictional and are jointly managed by the city and affected fire jurisdiction.

Greg Toll, Division Chief of Wildland Fire This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Dave Zader, Wildland Fire Mgmt. Coordinator This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Brian Oliver, Wildand Fire Fuels Mgmt. Supervisor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

(Vacant) Prescribed Fire Management Specialist

(Vacant) Wildland Fire/Mitigation Crew Supervisor  

Last Updated on Thursday, 26 July 2012 08:36