Sedalia – Colorado isn’t out of the woods yet, but fading restrictions in many of the state’s forests mean the worst of the fire season is over, according to fire and weather experts.
The Pike National Forest near Sedalia is as green as in springtime after weeks of thunderstorms and showers turned July’s record heat into a memory.
“This is more the kind of weather I like – wet and wild,” dirt-biker Sonny Chavez said after an afternoon of splashing along trails near Rampart Range Road on Saturday. The 23-year-old outdoor enthusiast from Arvada was coated in mud.
In the past two weeks, fire restrictions have been relaxed or rescinded in Arapahoe, Boulder, Chaffee, Clear Creek, Douglas, Eagle, Jefferson, Larimer and Summit counties. Most state parks have lifted restrictions or allowed at least small campfires or grilling at approved camping sites.
The weather has been wild all year, in bursts of snow, rain, lightning and fire. But charted over time, 2005 is likely to go down as “about average,” experts predict.
This summer, Colorado has had about 1,000 wildfires that burned just shy of 20,000 acres, the normal for the state, said Larry Helmerick, fire information officer for the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center in Lakewood.
By comparison, Colorado’s dramatic 2002 fire season saw 4,600 fires that consumed 619,029 acres.
Eight fires sprang up over the weekend but were quickly contained. On Monday, fires managed for ecological benefit were burning on 3,248 acres west of Meeker, 135 acres west of Saguache and 112 acres at Buck Park in the Rio Grande National Forest.
Helmerick cautioned that big wildfires are still a possibility, but as long as the weather stays cooler and damp, the danger will continue to decline.
“We always have the potential for a fall fire in Colorado and the West, but that doesn’t mean it’s likely,” he said.
Another heat wave is not likely, as summer is giving way to autumn, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Diagnostic Center in Boulder.
“The weather has been giving us a break, and I don’t see that changing,” climatologist Klaus Wolter said Monday.
For the Pike and other national forests that have gone green with the recent rainfall, the lifting of campfire restrictions coincides with a seasonal surge in camping.
Visitors should always consult websites or other information on local rules governing fire, because conditions vary, said Randy Hickenbottom, district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service’s South Platte District.
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-820-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
