{"id":126049,"date":"2026-04-23T16:27:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T22:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/residents-firefighters-rethinking-water-use-ahead-of-wildfire-season\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T16:27:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T22:27:58","slug":"residents-firefighters-rethinking-water-use-ahead-of-wildfire-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/residents-firefighters-rethinking-water-use-ahead-of-wildfire-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Residents, firefighters rethinking water use ahead of wildfire season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Go
Go Time Design LLC owners Andy and Stef Glanz look over a portable water tank that is part of their home fire defense system on April 3. The tank stores water before it is pumped to the sprinklers around their property and on top of their house in the event of a wildfire. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Heightened fire danger heading into summer has firefighters across Southwest Colorado concerned, including about whether water supplies will be sufficient to fight a blaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cWater supplies are going to be pretty challenged this year based on the lack of snowpack, snowmelt and drought conditions,\u201d said Durango Fire Protection District Chief Randy Black.<\/p>\n

According to the Colorado Division of Prevention and Control\u2019s April 16 drought report<\/a>, more than half the state is already in extreme or exceptional drought \u2013 categorized by large agricultural losses, reduced reservoir levels and heightened wildfire danger.<\/p>\n

La Plata County ranged from severe to exceptional drought, the report said. That caused the city of Durango to issue stage 1 water restrictions<\/a> April 10.<\/p>\n

Like Black, Upper Pine River Fire Protection District Chief Bruce Evans is concerned. Evans said during the Palisades and Eaton fires \u2013 which erupted in Los Angeles County in January 2025, killed 28 people and destroyed over 16,000 homes<\/a> \u2013 some fire hydrants being used to battle the blazes ran out of water.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a student of the Palisades Fire, one of the things that was routinely reported was that the reservoirs were dry and they ran out of water pretty quickly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Go
Go Time Design LLC uses several different sprinkler heads as part of its home wildfire defense system. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Because many La Plata County residents live in the urban-wildland interface \u2013 where communities butt up and into forestland \u2013 the risk of a wildfire destroying large swaths of forests, houses, business and infrastructure is especially potent this year.<\/p>\n

The best way to reduce that risk<\/a> is to remove flammable vegetation from around a property and retrofitting houses and businesses with more fire-resistant materials when fire danger is low. The Colorado State Forest Service\u2019s Home Ignition Zone Guidelines<\/a> detail how best homeowners can mitigate their property.<\/p>\n

The fewer structures at heightened risk of burning, the less concern there is about water use. Mitigation can also help homeowners maintain their insurance coverage<\/a> and provide peace of mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more the homeowners can conserve that water for firefighting operations, then we\u2019re not going to run the risk of opening a hydrant like they did at Los Angeles County Fire and Los Angeles City Fire and having the hydrant be dry,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n

Sprinklers \u2013 another line of defense that could help save water<\/div>\n

\"Go
Go Time Designs owners Andy and Stef Glanz talk about the different types of sprinklers they use to protect their home against wildfire. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For Andy Glanz \u2013 an industrial designer and former paramedic and EMT \u2013 and his wife and business partner, Stef Glanz, one approach to the problem are rooftop sprinklers. In 2025, the Durango couple started building wildfire sprinkler systems, which they plan to sell through the couple\u2019s company Go Time Designs LLC.<\/p>\n

Studies have shown that 90% of structures that burn in a wildfire do so because an ember blowing off the approaching blaze lands on the structure. Unlike their garden-variety cousins, the Glanzes\u2019 sprinklers are meant to stop an ember from landing on and igniting a house.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole goal is to keep embers out,\u201d Stef Glanz said. \u201cSprinklers create a water and humidity barrier to keep those embers out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Go
Go Time Design LLC uses several different sprinkler heads as part of its home wildfire defense system. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The sprinklers are linked via hoses to a small pump that is connected to a water supply, which is either a house\u2019s sprinkler spigot, a cistern or a standalone water tank. The idea is to turn it on just before leaving the house in the event of an evacuation.<\/p>\n

Evans sees potential in the use of the sprinklers, both for home defense and for conserving water. Where fire engines use hundreds of gallons of water per minute, sprinklers use a fraction of that. The Glanzes\u2019 system, for example, typically put out 6 gallons per minute.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sprinklers use a couple gallons a minute, versus if we pull up in a fire truck the first two hand lines that come off are going to flow 125 to 150 gallons a minute,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n

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