JACKSON, Wyo. — On Tuesday, the Teton County Board of County Commissioners will host a hearing to take public comments on a proposed amendment to expand the Wildland-Urban Interface Area to include all unincorporated areas of Teton County, such as Moran and Moose.
The amendment will update the Teton County Wildland Urban Interface Code (WUIC), which is an adoption of the 2021 International Wildland Urban Interface Code. The hearing will take place during the Commission’s Nov. 19 regular meeting at 9 a.m.
“The WUIC is consistent with nationally recognized good practices for the safeguarding of life and property protection,” the resolution states.
According to the proposed resolution, the WUIC supplements the Building Code and Fire Code to provide special regulations for construction, alteration, movement, repair, maintenance and use of any building, structure or premises within the county.
The extension of the boundary will make all new construction subject to the WUIC review, which could increase costs for new construction, but existing homes will likely have little to no compliance requirements.
During a June Joint Information meeting between the County Commission and Town Council, Fire Marshall Raymond Lane presented the new WUI boundary and explained that extending the boundary will help mitigate risks before a fire starts. Lane noted that the WUI boundary set in 2014 already includes most of the county and portions of the town, including residential areas around Snow King and on the east side of Redmond Street.
“In the event that we have a major fire here, Jackson Hole Fire/EMS and our federal partners together are not going to have enough manpower to protect every single structure that is in the ember fallout zone of that fire,” Lane said in June. “We are never going to have the manpower, it’s just not a reality. The point of us trying to do this is to give us a chance so these structures can stand alone.”
Written comments can be submitted to Raymond Lane, Fire Marshal, at PO Box 901 Jackson, WY 83001, or emailed. Comments can also be given in person or via Zoom during the public hearing on Nov. 19.
