Monsoonal moisture has erased fire restrictions imposed across the state this spring and early summer during stifling heat and parched conditions.
Jefferson, Lincoln and Boulder counties lifted restrictions Thursday.
Unlike most counties and agencies, Lincoln County commissioners took the action because spotty rainfall in the Eastern Plains area means “there is not much left to burn,” said county administrator Roxie Devers.
Boulder County officials plan to remove posted and automated fire-ban signs from the mouth of each canyon within the next several days.
Ending fire restrictions hasn’t been done without some officials expressing discomfort.
“We don’t meet fire restriction criteria, but with fires in other states, we could be in trouble if something gets started,” said Tim McSherry, critical incident manager for Jefferson County.
Large fires in Oregon, Washington, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming have pulled away resources, leaving fire managers worried about Colorado’s vulnerability if a large fire gets started.
Finding a hotshot crew or a helicopter now would be difficult, wildland fire experts said.
When the 12-acre Centennial Cone fire erupted on July 21 in Jefferson County, a firefighting crew en route to the fire near Chadron, Neb., was diverted as it traveled along Interstate 70.
Gov. Bill Owens said in late April that warning signs indicated “this could be a difficult spring and summer” in the state.
“We’ve been lucky,” said Chuck Dennis of the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center. “The big fires came early, and the little bit of monsoon moisture in July was the change in the game.”
So far this year, 88,710 acres have burned in Colorado, with more than half being singed before May 31.
The flow of tropical moisture from the Gulf of Mexico – frequently called a monsoon – arrived near the Fourth of July, about a week earlier than usual.
The slow-moving storms caused three-fourths of the year’s precipitation near Cheesman Reservoir to fall during July, Pike National Forest officials report.
“The (monsoon) pattern should continue through to the middle of next week,” said Frank Cooper, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder. “It generally breaks down in mid- to late August, and we dry out again.”
Dennis said the current wet conditions will cause grasses and shrubs to grow.
When the monsoon pipeline shuts off, drying will set the stage for what he calls “the fall fire season.”
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
