Sunday marked one year since the start of the High Park Fire, which ultimately destroyed 259 homes northwest of Fort Collins. Hot weather now has many Coloradans thinking about this year鈥檚 wildfire season.

"We鈥檝e had a good spring here on the Front Range, I think Mother Nature has given us a little window of opportunity," says Linda Masterson, a researcher and writer now living in Fort Collins. "I tell people, 'use that window wisely.' Get prepared now 鈥� you鈥檒l sleep better knowing you have done everything you can do."

Masterson lost her home in the northwest of Loveland. With flames closing in, she and her husband had just minutes to evacuate. Drawing on her experience, she has written a book for homeowners living in fire-prone areas called .

Interview highlights

"I wrote Surviving Wildfire so no one else would have to learn their lessons the hard way. There鈥檚 nothing worse than standing there in your ashes, and thinking about all those things you should have done, and could have done, but didn鈥檛 do. And I really felt as if it was fate, that I needed to write this book."

Where to begin in preparing for wildfire

"The first thing you need to do is make your home and property as defensible as you can. Assess your personal risk, and follow defensible space guidelines. You also want to take every step you can to deny fire an entry. Sometimes it鈥檚 the smallest things that can make the biggest differences, like switching to gravel mulch, or nonflammable deck furniture. You need to keep your gutters clear, move your firewood piles away from your house and downwind鈥� there are so many things 鈥� big and small 鈥� that you can do to give your home a better chance of defending itself -- even if responders can鈥檛 reach you."

"I think people really are afraid to be too prepared 鈥� as if being prepared somehow invites disaster. But I鈥檝e never talked to a survivor who wished they鈥檇 had less insurance, or spent less time getting their act together."

Resources:

• Find out your risk level with the Colorado State Forest Service's
• FEMA's
• (updated every morning)