Irreligion: Solutions are problems

“There are no facts, only interpretations.”

So saith Friedrich Nietzsche. With that in mind, you might ask a question, “If there are no facts, then what are we interpreting?”

Now I realize I have already lost 99% of any possible readership, but just for fun, let’s continue down this rabbit hole. The answer to the above question is … nothing. There are no hard “facts” that everyone is going to agree on. Is the ocean blue? Not always. Is the sun going to rise? Not when it’s overcast. Did Columbus sail the ocean blue in 1492? See “blue” above. There will never be universal commensuration on any so-called “facts.” Now, if you have made it this far, you are probably considering calling in my name to local law enforcement, social services, or those people who operate the secret satellites far above the earth that monitor people’s thoughts.  

Wildfire is on everyone’s mind these days. At least, it was until all the rain arrived. If you remember, a Sprinter van blew up in Snowmass on June 30 and caused a five-acre fire. That is back when everything was dry and crispy. Aspen Fire, Roaring Fork Fire Rescue, and Carbondale & Rural Fire responded along with 30 firefighters. There were also two airplanes and a helicopter dropping water and fire retardant. Many thanks to everyone involved.   

That fire was at the base of the Mesa Road that serves as the main entry and exit for the subdivision I live in.   

The fire was “quickly” extinguished. However, the Mesa Road was closed for two to three hours. In that little period of “fun,” the question on everyone’s mind who lives up here was: Is there going to be a mandatory evacuation? 

This fire was one month after I had shattered my ankle (see my column June 11) in a (stupid) climbing accident and had undergone two surgeries. So I was thinking, were we going to have to make a “run” for it? On crutches? While all this is happening, one of my witty neighbors thought he would be … witty … and he says to me, “Not a good time to make a run for it with that ankle of yours!” Hahaha. Funny guy. Who said, “Love thy neighbor”?  

Our road association was born in 1997 because the county commissioners slapped a building moratorium on this area due to our horrible roads and accessibility issues in regard to emergency vehicles (i.e., fire trucks). Due to the prescience of my neighbor, Victor Gerdin, we formed a road association to bring the roads up to county satisfaction. After 28 years of improvements, the main Mesa Road is now paved (where the fire was).  

There is a problem here, a twist on Murphy’s Law if you will. The solution to one problem always marks the beginning of another problem. As the philosopher Heraclitus noted, all ends are beginnings, and all beginnings are ends.  

Another “fact” (so-called): I read that that the Snowmass Town Attorney Jeff Conklins suggests layering on more restrictive wildfire measures for Snowmass Village on top of the new ones passed by the state. The problem is (see “solutions always lead to problems” above) this adds more incremental costs to building around here. It’s not that it’s a bad idea, but it is definitely a “more-idea.”  

We started building our house up here in 1993. We didn’t get our Certificate of Occupancy (CO) until 2012. We were living in a fantasy back then, trying to build a house for $50 a square foot and living without a CO. We didn’t even have enough money to cover $50 a foot. Right after we got permission to build, the county commissioners passed an ordinance requiring fire suppression (a sprinkler system) in every house built in the rural areas of Pitkin County. Our friend, a county planner, said it was a “good idea,” and we should consider fire suppression even though we got permission to build before they passed the ordinance. I almost lost my dark matter. We didn’t have enough money to build anything close to what we had plans for, much less $50,000 extra to stuff down that black hole.  

 After our wildfire, everyone is concerned about “fuels mitigation,” cutting back the bushes, trees, and weeds that feed wildfires around houses and along roadways. I am personally active in that effort. As president of our road association, and (hopefully) a soon to be re-elected board member of the Upper Snowmass Creek Caucus, I don’t want to see any of my neighbors getting cooked trying to escape a wildfire. One of my climbing heroes, Leigh Ortenburger, died that way. So I am all in.  

All of this is to say, as good intentioned as it is, fire suppression and mitigation is part of the problem. It’s as if it is an inevitable part of being human. Like almost everything, wildfire prevention, as well intentioned as it is, costs money. It’s one more thing driving up the cost of building and living here, and there is no way around it. Now that’s a fact.