With an active Colorado wildfire season underway, nonprofit Routt County Wildfire Mitigation Council has launched new local funding available to help Routt County renters and homeowners make their homes more resilient and hardened to wildfire threats.

The Routt Resident Rebate Program provides up to $500 in reimbursements for wildfire mitigation work on and around a home in three categories — Fences Are Fuses, Screening Vents and The First Five Feet.

The Fences Are Fuses rebate helps residents replace the first five feet of fencing touching or next to a home with non-combustible materials such as metal fencing.

The Screening Vents rebate helps residents install metal screens with no more than an eighth-inch gauge on outside home vents to prevent embers from getting blown through vents under eaves or decks or into crawl spaces or attics.

The First Five Feet rebate helps replace combustible materials and vegetation in the zero to five-foot zone around a house such as replacing wooden mulch with river rocks or switching out highly flammable juniper bushes with low-flammability plants.

Applicants can apply for all three programs for total maximum funding of $500. Applications close Aug. 31. For more, RouttWildfire.org/routt-resident-rebates.