Golden – The outlook for campfires is looking up this season, even though fire is still a danger and parts of the state are still feeling the drought.
Experts say the threat of wildfires across the state is not as severe this year as it was during several consecutive years of drought that resulted in above-average fire seasons, including 2002 – the year of the 138,000- acre Hayman fire that destroyed 133 homes.
Other severe Colorado fire seasons, including 2000 and 2003, prompted campfire bans and a fear of fireworks throughout the state.
But this year, officials hope public awareness and less severe weather conditions will douse the possibility of a return to widespread wildfires.
They caution, however, that non-threatening conditions can change quickly.
The wet winter means grasses and bushes in some areas have grown tall, but warmer weather and winds can turn new growth into fire fuel.
“Combine wind with warmth, and you can see the grass dry out. It’s noticeable,” said Bill Lucatuorto, chief of the Inter- Canyon Fire and Rescue Department.
The storms Friday and Saturday flooded parts of the metro area and left grounds saturated, but some mountain valleys just west of Denver received little or no moisture from the same storm systems, said Gary Shaffer, a fire management officer with the U.S. Forest Service.
Shaffer, whose district includes the Pike National Forest southwest of Denver, was among the federal, state and county officials who met Tuesday at the Jefferson County Office of Emergency Preparedness to assess local fire risks.
As afternoon thunderstorms become part of the state’s daily summer weather pattern, the risk of “dry lightning” sparking a fire will increase, said Dan Leszcynski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“It looks like the weather trend is going to lean more toward warmer and drier,” Leszcynski told the group.
Elsewhere in Colorado, the Western Slope is drier than the Front Range, Shaffer said. And numerous large fires have broken out in California, Nevada and Arizona.
Larry Helmerick, a fire information officer with the five- state Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center, said he expects an average fire season in Colorado this year.
“We are going to have more fires in 2005 than in 2004 because of a weaker monsoon season this year,” said Helmerick, who was in Montrose on Tuesday attending a Wildfire Academy, where more than 800 firefighters from 29 states are being trained.
An average Colorado fire season sees about 2,300 fires and the loss of about 55,000 acres.
Drought conditions have improved in most of the state and especially in southwest Colorado, according to a recently released wildfire report by the coordination center.
So far, only a handful of small fires have broken out this year.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303 820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
