Chaffee County Fire has several touchpoints when it comes to residential driveways in unincorporated Chaffee County.

1. During the Planning and Zoning process for a residential subdivision, if your driveway does not meet county requirements, for example if the driveway is not sufficiently wide (less than 14'), turning radius too narrow (less than 30'), or the grade exceeds 8%, then Chaffee County Fire will become involved by the County Planning and Zoning Department. If we determine these issues cannot be addressed at a reasonable cost, then we may issue a driveway variance informing the owner and any interested party that Chaffee County Fire and other emergency services may be delayed or impeded entirely in some circumstances due to the failure of the driveway to meet the county's minimum specifications. 

2. When a residential property is going through the site plan process in unincorporated chaffee county, the County Building Department will often involve Chaffee Fire's Fire Prevention Division to review the proposed driveway for compliance with the Land Use Code and the WUI as modified by the county's adopting ordinance 2023-02. The follwing are the applicable rules: 

• Turnouts: Driveways in excess of 400' and at every 400' thereafter shall be provided with turnouts. Turnouts shall be a minimum of 10' in width and shall be a minimum of 30' in length. They do not need to be exactly at the 400' mark, and 800' mark but they have to be reasonably spaced with those as guidelines. 
• Turnarounds: Driveways in excess of 150 feet shall be provided with a turnaround for emergency vehicles. See WUI 403.2.4 for the specifications of the turnaround. Additionally, Chaffee Fire will accept turnarounds that comply with the 2021 IFC Appendix D specifications in Figure D 103.1. Note also, if the driveway is structured as a loop that returns to the access road at a different location than the entrance, then the requirement for a turnaround is waived, as is the requirement for secondary access (see below); looped driveways still require turnouts. 
• Secondary Access: Per the land use code section 3.2.2.1(h), a secondary access road is required for parcels being subdivided or developed that are larger than 10 acres. This can be a simple two-track or fire trail. It is intended to allow residents to escape by a route that does not impede the entrance of first responders. This requirement is waived if the driveway is a "loop" see above bullet point. 

3. When a residential property in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) is ready for a C of O inspection, the Wildland and Mitigation division (not the Fire Prevention Division) will perform an on-site inspection to review the defensible space vegetation mitigation for compliance with WUI, and will also review the driveway specifications mentioned in point (1) at the top of this page.