For the first time in four years campfires of any kind are banned in Summit County, starting this Friday Aug. 5 at midnight.
Local officials adopted Stage 2 fire restrictions, outlawing backyard fire pits, charcoal grills, wood smokers, chainsaws and welding outdoors. The Summit shooting range will be closed during the ban. The only items allowed will be gas grills or fire pits with a shut-off valve.
Starting today local fire danger is rated “extreme,” meaning the smallest spark can start a large and devastating fire.
For Summit County, at our elevation, this is something that almost never happens,” Matt Benedit with Red White & Blue Fire tells Krystal 93. “We don’t make that decision lightly, but our fuels conditions are setting new records as of yesterday afternoon.”
Three things are behind this elevated fire danger and upcoming fire ban:
- Bone-dry forest
“Our timber, especially our dead timber – the bug-kill timber on the landscape – is exceptionally dry,” Benedict says. “Everything is in drought conditions. We’re starting to see indications of our vegetation going into dormancy. They are stressed out enough to dry up.”
- Hit-or-miss monsoon
“The monsoons, which keep us very regulated throughout the summer, especially at this altitude, just haven’t really done a whole lot,” Benedict says. “The overarching weather pattern is that most of the moisture was pushed into the Front Range. Those Front Range foothills are a little bit greener and we are consistently missing the rain.”
- Human factors
“We still have a lot of people in the woods,” Benedict warns. “We have limited access to resources right now because of the amount of fires in the area.”
The largest fires in Colorado today, burning to the east and west of Meeker, were started by lightning strikes. Benedict believes Summit lucked out during these storms, but he does not expect that luck to last.
“We didn’t really see any starts (from lightning), which was great, but statistically we can only take that for so long,” Benedict says.
The extended forecast provides little relief with unusually hot, dry weather through end of this month.
“We’re hoping this won’t last for long, but we don’t see a break in the forecast,” Benedict says. “We’re not seeing any relief. The longer we keep drying things out, the longer it takes for everything to get wet again and recover from it.”
You can protect your home now by trimming dead grass and removing slash from your property, especially the first five feet around your home.