This year’s wildfires have put Mora County residents in a pinch in terms of how they plan to stay warm this winter.
Many residents are relying on wood stoves or fireplaces to heat their homes, but recent fires have cut into the wood-splitting business. Help could be just around the corner, however, thanks to the Mora County Emergency Firewood Project.
“It is getting cold. Now we’re in the 30s in the morning, so people are going, ‘Hey, help me out,’” Tobias Lovato, lead volunteer for the project, told KRQE Monday.
The county is partnering with the U.S. Forest Service to supply chopped wood to those who need it, according to KRQE. More than 54% of the population in Mora County uses firewood as a heat source. Demographics also show a large senior population.
“A lot of these elderly people don’t have a way, don’t have a truck, don’t have a trailer, don’t have friends or family who can help them pick it up,” Lovato said. “There was a lot of requests for delivery."
The project already has made dozens of deliveries, but more are needed as more than 100 people are on the waiting list, according to KRQE.
“The need this year is really big, because a lot of the wood burnt, or a lot of people’s forest burned during this,” said co-lead volunteer Greg Elbring. “A lot of people depended on their private lands for the wood. And now that’s gone."
Volunteers said the National Guard stepped in to help when the Forest Service didn’t have enough loggers to deliver firewood. The National Guard brought logging trucks and giant rigs to help bring the wood to county residents.
“It’s been really, really rewarding for us because the smile on their face [and] the fact that they’re like, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t know what I was going to do this winter,’” Lovato said.
Firewood scarcity and rising prices have residents hoping this will be a recurring project, and leaders plan to submit a proposal for that to the state soon, KRQE reported.