Four new laws that seek to help prevent and respond to wildfires went into effect on Wednesday after being passed by the Colorado legislature earlier this year.

One of the laws, House Bill 1111, increases the amount of property lost to wildfires that insurance providers have to cover upfront from 30% of the value to 65%. The law also extends the timeframe wildfire victims have to rebuild their homes from 12 months to 36 months.

Senate Bill 114 allows county commissioners to designate ponds as fire suppression ponds, protecting them from being drained if needed for firefighting resources. House Bill 1132 requires all controlled burns on private property to be reported to local fire departments. Finally, House Bill 1012 invests over $7 million on forest health and restoration efforts.

“These days in Colorado, wildfire season lasts year round,” Rep. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon, who sponsored SB-114, said. “We have to be prepared to respond at any moment and give our brave first responders every possible tool they need to do their job.”

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These new laws come as record-breaking wildfires have become more and more common in Colorado.

At the end of December, Colorado suffered its most destructive wildfire in state history, when the Marshall fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County. Shortly before, the three largest wildfires in Colorado history all occurred in 2020.

The four laws taking effect Wednesday are among 11 wildfire-related measures that lawmakers passed this year, totaling tens of millions of dollars. The rest of the measures have already gone into effect, including legislation to increase firefighting resources, foster recovery efforts, conserve watersheds and fund wildfire mitigation incentives and outreach.

“The threat of wildfires continues to grow,” said Sen. Tammy Story, D-Conifer, who sponsored four of the wildfire-related bills. “It’s important that we’re as prepared as possible to handle them.”

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