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A $ 10,000 grant through the Western States Wildland-Urban Interface Grant Program enabled the Jackson/Teton County Fire Department to produce an award-winning film to help homeowners living in the wildland-urban interface.
Entitled "A Homeowner's Guide to Wildland Fire Protection," the 33-minute film is a documentary style instructional video. The project was started in March of last year, and production was under way when the 4,470-acre Green Knoll Fire near Wilson, WY led to the evacuation of nearly two hundred homes. Filmmaker Sava Malachowski , a Type II wildland firefighter, captured the immediacy of the threat of wildland fires in Teton County. With the new video recordings and heightened awareness resulting from the fire, the film became much more localized to the Jackson Hole community where 20-25% of the homes in Teton County are located in the wildland-urban interface.
Extensive footage of the Green Knoll Fire is included in the film, and interagency fire personnel appear throughout the film to provide information to viewers. Most of the thirty people who appear in the video are residents of Teton County. The film highlights topics such as fire behavior, home design, building materials, landscaping, and zone management practices.
The film was completed in April, and distribution plans include providing a copy to each of Wyoming's County Fire Wardens and State Emergency Management Coordinators. Locally, the video has been given to homeowners association members, and individual homeowners can find the video at the Teton County Library. To benefit homeowners throughout Wyoming, the film was broadcast statewide on Wyoming Public Television in mid-August. The film was created by SavaFilm, a local production company. The video received an Aurora Gold Award, an honor that recognizes excellence in the film and video industries. Programs are judged in areas of creativity, message effectiveness and technical excellence.
Contatct: Lori Iverson, Fire Education, Prevention, and Information Specialist
Phone: (307) 739-3692 |
