High winds stoked a wildland fire in Boulder County today, reigniting a slash pile that had burned days before.
At about 2:15 p.m. the smell of smoke was reported to a Boulder County Park Ranger at Heil Ranch Open Space north of Boulder, according to the Boulder Sheriff’s Office, and authorities found a wildland fire burning in the western portion of the park.
The fire was caused by high winds stoking a slash pile that burned on Thursday, the sheriff’s office said. An ember was blown into a nearby tree stump, starting a second fire.
The two fires burned about a quarter-acre of duff and tree litter.
Members of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Fire Management Program, Boulder County Parks and Open Space, and the Lefthand, Boulder Mountain, City of Boulder fire departments, brought the fire under control.
The burned slash pile had been checked on Friday and a 72-hour post check was scheduled for this afternoon, the sheriff’s office said, but the fire broke out prior to scheduled check.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
