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Deputy Fire Chief John Gilbert outlines wildfire outlook and county preparedness
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Summary
Deputy Fire Chief John Gilbert told commissioners that 30–90 day outlooks show near‑average fire indices but warmer temperatures ahead; he promoted a county 'Ready' hub, prepositioned engines, home-hardening guidance and encouraged Everbridge sign-up.
Deputy Fire Chief John Gilbert told the San Juan County commission that short-term predictive services show generally improved fire conditions compared with a few weeks earlier, but that warmer-than-average temperatures are expected in the May–July period and wind-driven spikes remain a concern. "We're trending right at average," Gilbert said of several fire-danger indices, including the energy-release and burning-index measures.
Gilbert described operational readiness measures: one engine is prepositioned and staffed locally to cover the Chama District, county crews have supported mutual-aid responses elsewhere in the state, and the department continues coordination with the State Forestry Division. He said those deployments are part of the county's contribution to statewide response capacity.
The deputy chief introduced a public information resource under development — a San Juan County 'Ready' hub (sjcounty.net/ready) — that will combine Fire Ready, River Ready and Evacuation Ready content, provide evacuation orders and incident updates, and link to state home-hardening guidance. "This is something we want to display forward‑facing that anybody can go to and get the latest and greatest resources," Gilbert said.
On mitigation, Gilbert said the hub will include property-evaluation services and home-hardening recommendations covering decks, eaves, roofing and exterior materials. He discussed IBHS (Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety) research on ember vulnerability and mitigation certificates that homeowners can use with insurers. "There are tons of great resources," he said, and the county is watching how insurance and state policy developments may affect residents.
During questions, a commissioner quoted a report saying "wildfires are turning soil into poisonous chromium‑6" and asked whether the department had information on that claim. Gilbert said he had not seen that specific claim and explained how fire severity changes soil properties — creating hydrophobic layers and altering pH — and offered to research chromium‑6 impacts further: "I—m happy to look into the chromium 6 to see what impact that is."
Gilbert also described the county's alerting toolbox: Everbridge (an opt‑in reverse‑911 system), iPAWS polygon-based cell broadcasts similar to Amber Alerts, and dispatch-driven notifications. He encouraged residents to sign up for Everbridge. Commissioners confirmed the statewide open-fire ban remains in effect.
The presentation concluded with Gilbert standing for questions and offering to provide additional information or follow-up materials to the commission.
