Colorado Springs – Southern Colorado has received a third of the moisture it received last year, and conditions are drier than they were in 2002, when the Hayman fire charred 138,000 acres, contributing to the worst wildfire season in state history.
“It’s crunchy,” said Barb Timock, spokeswoman for the Pike and San Isabel National Forests. “In some cases, it is as dry or drier than our benchmark Hayman year.”
With hot, dry weather forecast for the rest of the week and the three-day Memorial Day weekend on the horizon, the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and local fire departments are asking people to be especially mindful of fire danger. Fires outside of developed campgrounds and picnic areas, and smoking, except within a closed vehicle or building, are prohibited on public lands.
“We’re asking people to just be extremely careful with cigarettes, matches and fire and reminding them that we are under fire restrictions,” said Ken Smith, spokesman for the BLM in Cañon City.
While southern Colorado has received rain showers over the past week, the moisture is not enough to hydrate parched grasses and trees, fire experts said.
That point played out Tuesday in northwest Colorado Springs. Fourteen hours after a steady rain fell in the city, a wildfire broke out about 11:15 a.m. Tuesday near Eagleview Middle School.
Science students were measuring the velocity, speed and height of model rockets when one went astray and caught the grass on fire, according to Colorado Springs Fire Lt. Gary Reading.
The Eagleview teacher had applied for and received a permit to launch the rockets from the city, Reading said.
“We had a pretty good rain shower that came last night at 9:30. So we’re talking 14 hours later, and we’ve got a grass fire,” Reading said. “You would think that those fuels would be OK, and we wouldn’t have any problem extinguishing them. It spread from an acre or two to 10 acres in a matter of a half hour to 45 minutes.”
Reading credited a quick attack from firefighters at Station 18, less than a mile away, with preventing the fire from heading into the trees and, potentially, toward upscale homes.
“It’s just a matter of time. For us in Colorado Springs, it’s one of our biggest threats – the urban wildland area,” Reading said. “We’re just so integrated with the trees, the mountains. I’d say at least a quarter of Colorado Springs is among the mountains and the trees – it’s a high risk factor.”
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
