New construction rules may be coming to the higher-risk wildfire areas around Colorado Springs, including the grassland on the city’s eastern side.

Colorado Springs Fire Marshal Kris Cooper presented an early draft of the proposed changes to the city’s wildfire resiliency code to the Colorado Springs City Council during a recent work session.

Cooper said the city needed new rules in response to a 2023 bill, which established the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code Board to create consistent building standards for communities at risk of wildfires. The Code Board established a statewide wildlife code in July 2025 and required cities to adopt the protections by this summer.

Colorado Springs has placed restrictions on the wildland-urban interface (WUI) on the city’s west side for years. The amended code would keep the boundaries and most restrictions the same, though the area would be officially called a Class 2 fire risk.

A new category of Class 1 fire risk would be enacted for the eastern edge of the city to add similar restrictions in areas with grass-fire risk. According to a draft map, the classification would affect the areas between Marksheffel Road and the city limits, a few miles to the east.

“While traditionally, we think of wildfires in forested areas, the fact of the matter is we’re seeing a lot more fires in grassy areas these days,” Cooper said Feb. 23. “Under high wind conditions, those fires proceed very quickly and we’re seeing more homes lost.”

The updated fire code would place restrictions on the eastern side for roof materials, landscaping within 5 feet of a house and growing plants that are harder to burn. The WUI would have the same restrictions plus additional rules about building materials and removing hazardous trees.

The Fire Department created its own risk map for Colorado Springs that was different from the one used for the state model. Cooper said the city was waiting for the Wildfire Resiliency Code Board to approve the local map before the code would be voted on by the City Council.

The other biggest change in the code will affect fencing. In both higher-risk fire areas of the city, homes would be required to use non-combustible fencing at least 8 feet away from any structure.

“As we saw within the Waldo Canyon fire … those fences are essentially a collection point for embers. During a firestorm, embers collect at the base of the fence and burn, and that fence then becomes a wick,” Cooper said.

Fence dissent?

Westside Watch has been one of the most outspoken groups about the risks of Colorado Springs continuing to build in the wildland-urban interface. While the group has primarily petitioned the City Council about the western side of the city, it has raised concerns about the similar risk for grassfires on the east side of the city.

Westside Watch organizer Dana Duggan said that aligning with the state code on the new restrictions was a good step, but the bigger concerns were the amount of new construction in those areas and residents’ ability to evacuate during emergencies.

“The core issue is not just the vegetation type but the pattern of development. When dense development is built with limited evacuation routes, whether in forests or prairie, it creates a dangerous situation during fast-moving fire events,” Duggan said.

The state government enacted the wildfire codes as a matter of statewide concern, meaning they overruled municipalities’ home-rule land rights.

Councilmember Brian Risley, who has argued against the state overreach on other city land use issues, said he had similar issues with the reason for the fire code change. Risley added that the new rules could end up being a benefit for the community.