Hot on the heels of three major wildfires burning in Colorado, at least a half-dozen new open-burning bans and other restrictions went into effect Tuesday along the Front Range, joining a long list of already-announced fire bans.
What that means for you depends on where you live.
“For a lot of homeowners, events like the really brought it to immediacy,” said Clark Woodward, CEO and founder of , a Boulder software company that has helped Front Range fire departments and insurance companies track wildfire risk. “If you drive through my neighborhood right now you’ll see people out at 8 p.m. mowing and removing fuel like tall grasses.”
But it took a tense weekend with the Cold Springs fire outside Nederland to motivate many people in Woodward’s Sunshine Canyon neighborhood — just west of Boulder — to do it.
“Cold Springs definitely caught a lot of us by surprise,” said Woodward, a former geographer and volunteer firefighter. “We had such a wet spring and my grass was green and lush up until about a couple of weeks ago, then all of sudden we feel like we turned the corner. I could see our neighborhood going pretty fast at this point.”
Although Woodward has not been evacuated, he’s felt the heat from fires such as the Dome fire in 2012 and the Four Mile fire (“Literally just up the road… it burned 150 homes”).
Not everyone heeds the call to limit campfires, open burning or fireworks this time of year.
Despite of fines up to $1,000 and jail time from Denver Police and Denver Fire officials, people lodged numerous complaints around the Fourth of July for illegal fireworks use — including fireworks that caused a pair of house fires and .
In the last three days, illegal campfires in Rocky Mountain National Park have increased despite widespread press from the , Cold Springs and wildfires, according to a news release from the park.
It’s hard to blame park workers for being concerned: In fall 2012, the Fern Lake fire started from an illegal campfire and burned more than 3,000 acres of pristine wilderness, leading to a partial evacuation of Estes Park and racking up more than $6 million in firefighting costs.
Two men from Alabama suspected of starting the Cold Springs fire after failing to properly extinguish a campfire are facing charges.
So what will it take for metro area residents and tourists — many of whom don’t pay attention to local media — to get the message?
“We get the word out every way we know how,” said David Moore of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, which instituted its own Tuesday. “Not only do we send releases to media, we post it on our website and on social media, post signs on major roadways like 34 and 287, request that CDOT post it on their electronic signs, and then the U.S. Forest Service posts signs at campsite entrances.”
Deputies who patrol vulnerable areas also aggressively enforce fire bans and remind people about the latest rules, Moore added.
In Arapahoe County, the only things exempt from are propane or charcoal grills “which do not produce or emit sparks or embers when used.” Permits for small fires are now required , and Castle Rock police will be measuring flames from tiki torches and picnic fires to make sure they don’t exceed 4 feet in length.
“If you’re not involved in a program and you haven’t been educated in what to do to reduce your hazard, you can almost feel paralyzed because you don’t know where to start,” Woodward said of the numerous rules, restrictions and suggestions.
He offered a few best-practices for homeowners from Boulder County Wildfire Partners, which mirrors information from the :
- Create a “vegetation-free” zone around all structures, ideally about 3-5 feet
- Store firewood and other flammable debris at least 30 feet from all structures
- Clear gutters and rooflines of potential fuel such as pine needles and leaves
- Screen all exterior vents with 1/4 to 1/8-inch wire mesh to prevent embers from entering the home
- Develop a fire evacuation plan, sign up for local phone alerts and check your homeowner’s insurance to be sure you have the best coverage for your geographic area
- When replacing siding and roofs, use noncombustible materials whenever possible
- Remove all trees within 30 feet of a home, and thin trees to reduce clumps of conifers within 30-100 feet or more from structures.