In the General Election held November 6, voters in the Groom Creek Fire District approved the Ballot Question regarding the adoption of fire codes. The measure passed with a vote of 58.5% to 41.5%. The codes will have no effect on existing homeowners within the district. New construction will now have to meet defensible space and tree density requirements as well as meeting FireWise construction requirements.
The district will charge a fee for the plans review and code enforcement that will help offset the costs of the newly filled position responsible for these activities. Our Assistant Chief will serve as the Fire Marshal and Code Enforcement Official.
If you are planning a new construction project in the district, we will be happy to assist in the planning stages to facilitate the permit process and compliance with the new requirements. If you would like to review the codes and/or get more information about them, please contact Assistant Chief Manzanedo at 928-778-6519.
The ability for the Fire District to enforce open burning requirements and restrictions is an advantage to having the codes in place. The County repealed their codes relating to the fire restrictions and would not enforce any during the last fire season. We should expect future fire seasons to be more severe in the near future until a significant event ends the years of drought conditions.
Additionally, we will be able to require that new developments have an adequate water supply, proper access in the event of an emergency and meet FireWise principals in their vegetation management and construction. Also, any new structures over 5,000 square feet will need to have an approved sprinkler system.
The intention of adoption of the codes is to ensure life safety as well as to protect the area from the effects of a devastating wildland fire event as we have seen recently in California. All of the same conditions that contributed to thousands of homes lost in the last month are present in our area in our most critical time of our fire season.
Read more on the fire codes.