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EL PASO COUNTY, COLO. -- The Waldo Canyon Fire emergency response team is working to address flooding concerns in an area where nearly all of the vegetation burned in the June wildfire.

The BAER team spent Wednesday dropping wood chips and straw from helicopters high above the areas where flooding could most likely get to homes and streets in Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs and areas along Highway 24.

The mulches, which are Colorado-based, are expected to prevent flash flooding, which has already happened a few times since the fire, most notably at the end of July.

"We have several treatment types," BAER team leader Mary Moore said. "One is aerial mulching application, the other is we are doing some storm proofing along the trails."

Crews are working 12-hour shifts operating five helicopters that drop 2,000-3,000 pounds of mulch per trip. The drops require careful planning.

"Right now the burn area is a very sensitive ecosystem," Moore said." We want the native plants to come back."

The mulch comes from trees that burned in the fire, and the straw comes from Colorado plants. So far everything is on schedule for a healthy recovery.

"A lot of your native grasses will come back in a year," Moore said. "In 3-5 years your shrubs will come back, and your trees are going to take a little longer. Hopefully we are about to start some reforestation efforts."

As far as reopening trails in the area, BAER officials said they will have to wait to see how winter goes.

The mulching project will cost $4.8 million and will cover 3,000 acres between now and mid-September.

The Waldo Canyon Fire was Colorado's most destructive ever, burning 346 homes, killing two people and forcing more than 32,000 to evacuate. Investigators said it was human-caused but won't release details until a Sept. 12 briefing.