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Debris help for Little Thompson flood victims

Berthoud Fire Protection District Receives Flood Relief Grant from Community Foundation of Northern Colorado

In response to the devastating September floods that impacted the Berthoud Community along the Little Thompson River, the Berthoud Fire Protection District applied for a grant from the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado. The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado (CFNC) created three charitable funds to address intermediate and long term flood recovery needs within Larimer County. These funds were designed to support the areas of Estes Park and its canyon communities, Loveland and its canyon communities (including the Little Thompson drainage), and the Poudre River communities. The Bohemian Foundation also helped with the fundraising efforts, provided matching funds to the CFNC. In early October, the CFNC released guidelines for grant request to assist in flood relief efforts in Larimer County and requested nonprofit and governmental entities to submit applications.

The Berthoud Fire Protection District has been awarded a $35,000 grant to develop a plan and to assist landowners in the mitigation of natural flood debris along the Little Thompson River within Larimer County. The grant has provided funding to bring in a large tub grinder, and associated equipment, that would grind the woody debris and turn it into piles of wood chips. The plan is to find several centrally located sites along the Little Thompson River where debris could be stockpiled and then processed in those locations. The plan is to “let the chips fall where they may”, and to look for options to find a use for the wood chips. The District is seeking collection sites along the Little Thompson River where flood debris would be collected starting in March and processed later in the year.

The Berthoud Fire Protection District is also in the process of working with volunteer groups and organizing groups of volunteers to assist in the collection and transporting of flood debris to the designated collection sites. UMCOR, the United Methodist Committee on Relief, will be sending 18 to 25 young people to our area from March 15 to March 21 to help with cleaning up debris in properties affected by the flood along the Little Thompson River. We also are in dire need of volunteers with pickups and trailers or even beet trucks to help haul the debris the volunteers pile up to the designated areas for stockpiling and future processing. Please consider providing an area as a collection site for river debris. We have a short window of opportunity to utilize these eager eighteen to twenty five volunteers.

There will be an open house meeting about the project on Wednesday, February 19 at 6:30pm in the Berthoud Community Center. Please come to the meeting to sign up to get help with debris removal, as well as to help with the project.

For further information please contact Fire Chief Stephen Charles at (970) 532 – 2264 Office or (970) 481 – 8898 Cell