ìWhen..not ifî is expert consensus about the next big Black Forest fire, often voiced by Black Forest Together. Fire is not taken seriously in the Park Forest Water District (PFWD), which covers approximately 300 households in the Black Forest.†The Park Forest Water District Board of Directors seem to neglect public service and are assuming liabilities, both of which makes us less safe. The Board of Directors refuses to add fire prevention and control to other worthy objectives in their PFWD Mission. Two attorneys, Paul Anderson and MacDougall, Woldridge &†Worley, seem to be misguiding the Board. Mission Statement aside, PFWD neglects to take reasonable actions to provide water resources to fight the next Black Forest fire. Instead, the Board squanders water and financial resources.The PFWD Board, led by Pam Sekac, recently succeeded in causing 20 acre feet (6,500,000 gal) of the Districtís water to drain downstream for no good reason, nor gain. Instead, this Board action cost District members nearly $60,000. The wasted water was stored in one three acre pond and one two acre pond on our property ó the ponds (were) heavily used by military helicopters to fight the 2013 Black Forest Fire. Water delivered by Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters saved many homes and structures in the Burgess and Vollmer Roads region. Perhaps water from these very ponds prevented the fire from crossing Burgess Rd. to burn Park Forest subdivision itself. †How ironic that Ms. Sekacís spite against me and my family could permanently deprive the Black Forest community of this significant amount of water standing ready for easy access by helicopter fire buckets and Fire Department pumpers to fight fires in the future.†Members of the PFWD, prospective homebuyers and the insurance industry are mislead by the number of fire hydrants evident in the District. All of these hydrants connect to two tanks supplied by wells and pumps which can only supply enough water to operate two or three fire-hydrants at one time. †Need it be said that two or three fire-hydrants are insufficient to effectively fight multiple fires? †During the Black Forest Fire, PFWD†could not supply water at all†because the District had not installed back-up electricity generators. †Park Forest Subdivision homeowners, PFWD and residents of the surrounding Black Forest area are fortunate to be located near Cottonwood Creek where ponds are possible. Just like it was prudent to install onsite electricity generation, it is now prudent for the District to refill the ponds on our property and to take steps to encourage other pond owners in the District to maintain full ponds. †Encourage the PFWD Board to do so.See pfwd.co for more of the PFWD story. †Fire protection issues in the District requiring further action, include networking the pipelines, and encouraging residential sprinkler systems.Steve JacobsBlack Forest
