Updated April 2023
For years, ski areas have had incidents with fires, including wildland fires, structure fires, and arson.
Many ski areas are remote, buildings are separated from municipal water systems, and access is
difficult. Most ski areas have snowmaking systems; some are very large snowmaking systems. A few
of these snowmaking systems have been used for fighting fires, but very few ski areas have a good
working pre-plan to use these systems and train with their local fire departments.
Our goal is to provide the ski industry with an actionable pre-plan, along with a list of the proper
equipment to adapt from a snowmaking system to fire hoses. We will recommend ways to use
snowmaking equipment to construct unmanned nozzles that will create a large water barrier in an
attempt to protect buildings, lifts and possibly even stop an advancing fire.
Use this Fire Pre-Plan as a guideline to start a detailed plan for you and your organization. Take this and make it your own, get others in your organization involved, and go out to your community. If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know. I am offering this for free and would appreciate additional input or personal experiences from those who have dealt with wildfires threatening ski areas.
Sincerely,
Jason Sawin
Owner
CHS Snowmakers
CHS Fire Pre Plan Sample – Updated April 2023
