With the mercury blasting into triple digits, nervous wildland fire officials are marshaling resources and monitoring conditions while hoping the remnants of Hurricane Emily will deliver a few days of rain early next week.
On Thursday, half of a fleet of military air tankers – some from Colorado and others from as far away as North Carolina – will be called up and stationed in Boise, Idaho, to supplement aerial firefighting capabilities in the parched West.
“We’re constantly in a chess game of preparedness at this time in the national fire season, moving resources where we predict potential fire behavior,” said Mike Apicello, spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise.
The national fire preparedness level jumped up a notch Tuesday, with fire activity expected to rise with the temperatures.
A new record was reached Tuesday at Denver International Airport when the temperature spiked at 101 degrees at 2:52 p.m. The old record of 100 degrees for the date was set in 1934.
Tuesday was the second 100-degree day this month in Denver, and today’s forecast high will flirt with the century mark.
The forecast offers little relief through Sunday and offers the potential for dry thunderstorms with wind and lightning, conditions that increase fire chances.
In Jefferson County, only a few precious drops of rain have fallen during July.
“I am seriously very, very nervous,” Bill Lucatuorto, chief of the Inter-Canyon Fire and Rescue Department, said Tuesday.
He described conditions he found during a recent walk in the woods: “It crunches when you walk. It wouldn’t take much.”
Jefferson and Douglas counties and the Pike-San Isabel National Forest imposed fire restrictions a week ago as conditions favorable to fires intensified. Other counties with fire restrictions include Park, Custer, Chaffee, Mesa, Eagle, Pitkin, Pueblo and Teller.
A total fire ban may be considered in Jefferson County and elsewhere if Hurricane Emily fails to jump-start the late- arriving summer monsoon late this week. Meteorologists say the storm could haul some moisture up through the Southwest into Colorado.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
