Longmont, CO Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Wildfire policy in Longmont sits at the intersection of state mapping and Boulder County WUI regulation. The Colorado State Forest Service publishes the Colorado Wildland-Urban Interface map (2022 CO-WRA, https://geodata.colorado.gov) showing where structures meet flammable wildland fuels. The developed core of Longmont, on the plains, is largely outside the state-designated WUI; the heavily wooded foothills west and southwest of the city in unincorporated Boulder County are within WUI. The City of Boulder adopted the 2024 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC) with local amendments effective Aug. 1, 2025, but Longmont has not adopted the IWUIC. Wildfire concerns in Longmont focus on grass-fire risk on the plains during high-wind, low-humidity events (the 2021 Marshall Fire in nearby Boulder County demonstrated that plains-edge cities are not immune). Longmont supports the Spillway Knoll Project around Longmont Reservoir to protect raw water supply from post-fire sedimentation in the St. Vrain Creek Watershed and has done roughly 20 years of forest health and fuels reduction work in that watershed. Within city limits, grass and brush clearance is enforced under LMC Chapter 9.32 (Weed Control - 12-inch height limit) and recreational/open burning under the 2021 International Fire Code (LMC Chapter 16.32, Ord. O-2021-66).