“It’s not if, it’s when.”
Those five words were passionately spoken by nearly all the speakers who came to what some say is the No. 1 fire-risk city in the state during a town hall meeting hosted by Old Bisbee Firewise (OBFW). The idea was to impress upon the public the serious need to take action and reduce combustible fuel sources surrounding their homes into their own hands
“I don’t want to alarm anybody, but, Bisbee, you have a problem,” said Marc Titus, Firewise Specialist and a former wildlands manager in the Pacific Northwest who now lives in Bisbee. Joseph DeWolf, Sonoita/Elgin Fire Chief, is very familiar with the Firewise Program which has been active there for the past 12 years.
Through grants totaling $874,000, the community is able to keep the combustible, natural materials in check for around 800 property owners in an area covering 3,000 acres.