Henniker officials map water gaps in draft wildfire plan and eye federal grants

Henniker officials and state wildfire specialists on Wednesday outlined a Community Wildfire Protection Plan aimed at reducing local wildfire risk and funding infrastructure such as dry hydrants and cisterns.

John Neely, community wildfire mitigation coordinator with the Forest Protection Bureau, said the CWPP "outlines local priorities for reducing wildfire risk, and it increases the eligibility for grants." He told residents the plan maps wildland-urban interface, fuel types and topography and identifies locations where rapid water access would improve firefighting response.

Fire Chief Jim Morse described equipment and staffing in Henniker and said department leaders have marked candidate sites where additional water sources would be important. "Those are areas where rapid access to water to help put out a fire is needed," he said.

At a question-and-answer session, a town speaker said a directional-drilling quote to install a dry hydrant at Pleasant Pond came in around $35,000. Neely and Morse said the CWPP is intended to support applications for federal community wildfire defense grants and other funding, though towns should expect to contribute local matching funds.

Neely urged homeowners and neighborhoods to take advantage of home-assessment programs and other provisions in the CWPP, which may improve the town’s competitiveness for grants. "One of the things that will come from the CWPP, we will identify areas where there are needs," he said.

Next steps: officials said the CWPP work is near completion, staff will continue mapping and outreach, and the town will pursue grant opportunities to fund priority water-source work and other mitigation actions.