Speaker 1: 0:00

Today is no different. We talk about wildfire safety, how you really need to make sure to put out those fires once you leave your campsite or wherever you may have a fire in a designated area, I might add. We also talk safety on the roads, on the rivers and lakes, biking and hiking and so much more. We also discussed the county's evacuation plan. Let's knock on wood that we don't have to use that plan, but there is a plan in place here in the county to keep everyone safe if something does occur. So please sit back and enjoy my interview with Sheriff Schoen. Good morning, sheriff. Thanks for joining me today. Good morning, thank you to you too. I'm happy to be here, you bet and it's only the middle of July. Only Summer goes by so quickly. We have some great summer safety things that we need to get out to our listeners here in Grand County.

Speaker 3: 1:17

We absolutely do. You know, like you said, it's early July or mid-July, but summer's here and summer's in full swing.

Speaker 1: 1:24

Yeah, and we still have everybody's like oh, after the 4th of July, but or mid-July, but it's summer's here and summer's in full swing. Yeah, and we still have everybody's like oh, after the 4th of July, it's the end. It's like oh, no, we still have quite a few months to go.

Speaker 3: 1:34

We do. You know, we're in the middle of summer, here we're starting wildfire season, our tourist volume is higher than ever, and so all those things coupled together is higher than ever, and so all those things coupled together, summer's definitely not done.

Speaker 1: 1:53

No, it's not done. So let's talk about some of this summer safety. You just mentioned wildfires and we, you know we had a great June a lot of rain, not getting much rain. Right now it's pretty darn dry. I know you guys are working with the Grand County Wildfire Council. What are some things that we can do to be safe here in this county?

Speaker 3: 2:09

You know, the biggest thing you're exactly right is you know, fire season is here. June was looking pretty good. Unfortunately, what happened is a lot of these fuels, a lot of these grasses and stuff. They grew a lot in June. You know that water caused things to really green up and as summer gets going here, eventually all of those fuels dry up. You know the green turns to brown and that gives us a lot of fuel to burn, and so we're watching that very closely.

Speaker 3: 2:37

One of the keys of us up here is we watch this on a regular basis. I think that's important for our community to understand is that we, as responders you know we have a fire manager, we have fire chiefs, we have forest and BLM personnel we watch these conditions very closely to make the best decision for Grand County, knowing that. You know people don't like restrictions, but restrictions are sometimes necessary. We know they have impact on our businesses, we know they have impact on tourism. You know everybody wants to have that campfire at night and everybody wants to be able to, you know, go out into the forest or BLM and have that campfire or their home or wherever, and so we take those. We take these decisions very, you know, very importantly. But we definitely watch the science and let the science kind of guide our decisions.

Speaker 3: 3:24

But the biggest thing to get back to your original question is vigilance. You want to make sure that if you do have that campfire, that you're taking that extra minute and actually truly dousing that campfire and getting that fire completely out. Our responders have already responded, I think over the Fourth of July weekend, to either six to eight different unattended campfires. And so get that campfire out. And when I mean out, it's water, stir, water, stir. Really get that campfire out, because when you think it's out, give it a little bit more because it's really not quite out yet.

Speaker 3: 4:03

And so, being vigilant, with your own personal responsibility if you're using fire, and then also just be vigilant as a community member or a tourist. If you see smoke, if you see flames, give us a call. Let our dispatch center know the business line 911, whatever it is, but give us a call because you might be the first person that called us. If you're the eighth or tenth person, our dispatcher will just let you know that. But we would rather you know you see something, say something absolutely yeah, and you know, I think that's the thing.

Speaker 1: 4:36

people think, that they have them out, and then we've had such crazy wins this year that it just takes a couple embers and there it goes. So you're right, just more water, more water, and that's great advice. So let's talk to you. I was telling you earlier, when we first got on the phone today, about a Facebook posting that you guys had about slow down, and I have noticed like it's like if you're on vacation or even a local, it's like slow down. There's a lot of road construction going on right now. There were a couple of accidents over the fourth that we just. So what are you? What's your recommendation to people?

Speaker 3: 5:17

It really comes down to those four words slow down and move over. I mean that that's about as basic a message as I can make it in four words, which is why we use that message because we want people to see it and recognize it, just like I spoke a little bit ago about see something, say something. You know, slow down, move over. On the traffic thing, we got construction, we got incredible numbers of tourists coming through our county right now for boating, fishing, hiking, biking, visiting the national park. All of these people coupled on our roads right now is a recipe for disaster. And I'm super excited about what Grand County has done with tourism and we've done a fantastic job of getting everybody to Grand County and Grand County truly is that premier destination. I feel that we are a great place and I love people coming up here. I just ask them to take that one extra step and what I kind of call do that tactical pause. You know, just pause, pause before you do something. Make sure what you're doing is safe. That 20 seconds of pausing and making sure that you're doing something that's safe is going to let you continue your summer, let everyone else continue their summer.

Speaker 3: 6:35

It doesn't take long in today's world, with as much traffic and people on the roads that we have for something really catastrophic to happen and it's just, most of the time, an accident and so slow down, move over construction zones, school zones, even though they're not active in the summer a good reminder for you know us here in a few weeks Emergency responders on the side of the road. If you see police, fire, ems, especially like our tow truck drivers on the side of the road, give them those extra few inches so that they can work. We've had several near crashes between our responders and tow companies on the side of the road because somebody's too busy, focused on their phone, someone's too busy just focused on the stresses of life, and so just take that extra few seconds for everybody. It'll mean everybody gets to go home to their family at the end of the day.

Speaker 1: 7:28

Absolutely Great advice. Well, you mentioned too, people do come up here. Well, I want to make one quick notice. When you are like just slow down and like look at the beauty of where we are, even as a local, sometimes I'm like, oh, I got to get to this appointment. And it's like if I get behind somebody that's maybe hasn't seen mountains and the beauty that we have here, it's like as a local I sometimes have to say, gosh, take a moment, gaylene, and look around. This is amazing.

Speaker 3: 7:56

I am so guilty of that. I put on a lot of miles around the county and I get to where I need to be and I don't think about the beautiful place that we're at. I mean, there's a reason we all live here. There's a reason why people come up here to enjoy it. I certainly don't want to live in Denver personally myself. I enjoy being up here where I don't have that many stop signs.

Speaker 1: 8:19

Yes, you've mentioned some of the activities that people come up here for, which one of them is we are so lucky being the headwaters for the Colorado River, having the reservoirs that we have up here. Water is a big thing up here, but we need to adhere to some water safety issues and you guys have done a really good job on getting that out and working with the Mullinex family on what they're doing as well and give us some tips on just some water safety.

Speaker 3: 8:47

You know once again, just like everything else I kind of mentioned, is have a plan. Take that, take that moment and pause and think about what your plan is before you have fun, have a good plan. And that means number one know yourself. Know what you feel comfortable doing and not doing. Number two share that plan with your friends and family, whoever you're going to be with, so that everybody knows everybody's experience levels and comfort levels. If you're going by yourself, which I highly discourage, make sure that you're letting somebody know. You know I plan on entering the river at nine o'clock here and I plan on coming out of the river at 11 o'clock here. Have that communication strategy with somebody so that if we do need to come help you or come find you, we know where to find you.

Speaker 3: 9:32

Always, always, always, wear a PFD, always, always. Wear that personal flotation device. Even the most experienced swimmers, they enter our cold water, which obviously causes its own issues. Our waters are cold, our waters are big and even the most experienced have issues. We've noticed that in the past and that continues. So wear that PFD, regardless where, that personal flotation device, whether you're on the river, whether you're on the boats. You know, especially, especially, especially, you know, these people that are renting our pontoon boats and things like that, put those kids in a life vest. You know, it only takes a split second for something to happen and that gives you a fighting chance. And so come up here, have a great time, enjoy the pontoon boats, enjoy the barbecues that go along with those. You know, I see people all the time that take these pontoons and they go beach and they have a great lunch and they play in the water, and that's exactly what we want to do. Just take that one step further and keep that vest on when you're in the water. It gives you that fighting chance.

Speaker 1: 10:41

Well, another activity that I think that some of the same warnings can be applied to is hiking, like don't hike alone. I know we had search and rescue out quite a bit. I see those notices coming through that we've had search and rescue about people falling or getting lost, and what are some of your tips and advice on hiking up here?

Speaker 3: 11:03

You know it's really the same thing as the rivers. Take that pause for a second. Have a plan. Make sure you let somebody know where you're going. I even recommend for the hiking component you know if you're there by yourself or even if you're there with a buddy put a little note on your car. Put a little note on your car, put a little note on your windshield. You know you don't have to advertise it to everybody, turn it upside down, put it up in an envelope. But if we do need to figure out what your plan is down the road, we can actually figure out a way to do that. You don't have to advertise it. But just emphasize to everybody that you know good communication, good communication really is critical. If you're hiking with friends, it's okay to say I'm getting tired, it's okay to say I'm not getting hydrated enough, but I think you know, have a plan, verbalize that plan. Make sure you got plenty of food, water and your 10 essentials so that you can actually help keep yourself safe until rescuers can get there.

Speaker 3: 11:56

We had a rescue a few weeks ago. It was a medical call up by Gord Lake. I think that's almost like a 17-mile in and out round trip and when you call for help up there, it's a little different than calling for help at the city market parking lot. You know the city market parking lot. If you fall, you're probably going to have an ambulance there in two or three minutes. You fall at Gord Lake or Monarch Lake, trailhead or something like that.

Speaker 3: 12:23

You're out there for a while and so, knowing yourself, knowing your capabilities, having that communication strategy and also knowing when to say no, you know is, hey, my body is telling me that maybe today's not the day to finish this and turn around. Um, altitude. Altitude alone impacts a lot of people up here. We see that on a regular basis. And so just listen to your body. Listen to your body, but then go have fun. If your body says today's the day that you're going to go out and you're going to hike 17 miles, that's awesome. But if there's something that just doesn't seem right, just make the good choice.

Speaker 1: 13:02

Yeah, great tips again. This is why you're sheriff.

Speaker 3: 13:07

We deal with a lot of this. We deal with a lot of it. It's certainly not me knowing more, it's just I see and hear what happens. You know, search and rescue falls under me as a sheriff and so I'm out a lot of times with those guys on these calls. But I see the amazing work that those volunteers and our partners at Grand County EMS and the fire departments do on getting these people out of the back country. And, uh, you know it comes down to personal responsibility. We all want to have fun. I mean, there's no doubt about it, I do a lot of biking around the county. That's kind of my passion to be able to get out and, you know, get away from the stresses of the day. But I even catch myself, you know you got to remind yourself of. You know, are you doing what you're supposed to do? And just even as the sheriff, you know things can slip up on you. So you want to make sure that you're cautious in what you do.

Speaker 1: 13:59

Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, you guys, like sometimes we just think, oh, we put all that stuff behind us, but it's like you still have got to watch out for traffic, you still have got to watch out for falling rocks or whatnot, and just always be aware of your surrounding and wildlife as well.

Speaker 3: 14:14

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 14:15

And I know there's been a lot of moose attacks this year too, so it's like there has.

Speaker 3: 14:20

You know, give them space, give them space. They're big critters, they're big animals. Yeah, watch for them on the road and then watch for them when you're out hiking and biking, or heck even taking out the trash.

Speaker 1: 14:32

Yeah, and the same with you know bears I've here in Granby have had you know, I've basically taken down all my bird feeders and, you know, unplugged fountains at night and empty them out because I've had a bear. That's come, that's decided.

Speaker 3: 14:46

My yard is pretty cozy and once they come, once or twice.

Speaker 1: 14:51

Yeah, they're pretty repetitive, they keep coming back yeah, so I called you, know Colorado Parks and Wildlife, let them know. And then, yeah, did everything that I was supposed to do to make it uncomfortable, for not make it cozy anymore, oh exactly.

Speaker 1: 15:05

Yes exactly so. So the last thing, going back to fire, is with visitors and residents as well. We had the fire back in 2020, in October, and the county did such an amazing job with that whole disaster natural disaster but I know that the county came up with an evacuation map. Tell us where people can find that information, how that works, everything just to be prepared if something does happen again in the county. Knock on wood that it doesn't.

Speaker 3: 15:41

Sure. So during these troublesome fire and during some of our previous fires, we had to make some evacuations and we did those kind of on the fly, you know, depending on where the fire was, we took and kind of created evacuation polygons of areas that need to be evacuated or potentially evacuated During an incident like that. That takes a lot of time and our ultimate goal is not to delay that evacuation process. And so what we've done, working with emergency management, the fire departments, county GIS we've created a county-wide evacuation map. It can be found on the Sheriff's Office website, a few other places online, but you'll basically see that Grand County is divided into. I think there's roughly about 90, some different zones all across Grand County and it's an interactive map. In the upper left you can actually type in your address and it will pull up your address on the map and it will tell you what area you're in. You might be in area 32, hypotheticallyetically, but it's good to know that area because what this does is it lets our community see what area they're in before an incident happens. It lets our responders all speak the same language between responders and the community, and so they know what area they're in. We all know it's not up to you know each individual entity to know. We all know ahead of time. We all know it's not up to you know each individual entity to know. We all know ahead of time. We all use the same map and then within that map, it actually gives us some additional tools on the backside that we can actually track how many residences are in each of those evacuation areas, the valuation that's in those evacuation areas.

Speaker 3: 17:21

All of those things are super critical for us when we're requesting resources such as aircraft, things like that. You know, if I have a large fire, that's, you know, heading towards one of our subdivisions or the town of Granby, you know I'm able to reach out to the state and I'm able to tell them that I have 500 homes valued at this, with this many people in this area, and then that allows the state maybe at the same time they're fighting a grass fire on the Eastern Plains and they can evaluate. I have one aircraft, do I send it to the grass fire or do I send it to Grand County? And so the tools that we use for that help us build our resource capability, put in our requests, support those requests, but the key is having something in place before the crisis happens and we say we use this map for wildfire and evacuations.

Speaker 3: 18:16

Honestly, it could be used for anything. If I had a tactical situation or something law enforcement related maybe we have a train crash in Byers Canyon and I now need to evacuate a couple sections of hot sulfur that framework's already been done for me. That framework is then built into our Code Red notification system and so if I'm on scene and I reach out to our communications team and say I need you to evacuate Section 32, they already have a pre-populated message for Section 32. They already have that pulled up. We're just cutting down minutes during an emergency and that's our ultimate goal with this.

Speaker 1: 18:58

Well, it's great to have in place and you know, I think traveling now sometimes I'm more aware where I'm going to is, if something happens, where do I go? And I think we all need to have plans in place.

Speaker 3: 19:16

We do, and you know it is. It's not just for residents, it's for tourists. You know, think about what can happen when you're here. It's not just for residents, it's for tourists. You know, think about what can happen when you're here. I know the Wildfire Council has done an incredible job of reaching out to our VRBOs and hotels and things like that, trying to educate people. We don't want to spook people, but we want to have people educated when they're coming to our county and that's what they do is. They're great at amplifying the message. They're great at doing that communication strategy to support our mission and that and that's what we need.

Speaker 1: 19:46

We need everybody to do it collectively yeah, and just as a little shout out, where the tourism board will be at a couple of the festivals and we're handing out their information, um, along with their magnets that you can put on your refrigerator to just kind of keep you aware so, so that's wonderful.

Speaker 3: 20:03

You know, I even catch myself looking at those when I travel, even if it's for work, just to see what's out there. You know Right.

Speaker 1: 20:09

Yeah, it's great. Well, any last thoughts on summer safety tips that you have in your back pocket you want to share.

Speaker 3: 20:19

You know, I think I just I want to emphasize, you know. You know I think I just want to emphasize, you know we all get one life. Have fun, enjoy, enjoy life, just just do it safely. Take that extra second, like I said and this is a good rule of life for all of us is just pause for a second, enjoy the scenery, enjoy life, but just make sure that the decision you're making is the best. But come up to Grand County, have a great time, enjoy all we have to offer, just do it safely.

Speaker 1: 20:47

Again, great advice.

Speaker 3: 20:49

So this is always wonderful, thank you.

Speaker 1: 20:52

Oh, thank you, Sheriff, I really appreciate you taking your time. Like I said, we're in our really busy season, so this is important stuff to get out and I appreciate again your time.

Speaker 3: 21:02

You bet and call anytime If something comes up. You got questions, just reach out, please. All right, thank you, thank you.