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Steamboat Springs — If you want to cook hot dogs over a campfire this holiday weekend, you'll need a designated campsite with a provided and approved fire grate.

Fire officials have banned open fires, effective today, in eight counties across Northwest Colorado. They cited bone-dry vegetation and unseasonably warm temperatures as the primary cause of the ban. The restriction includes all state, federal and county lands in Routt, Moffat, Eagle, Grand, Jackson, Larimer, Rio Blanco and Summit counties.

"Current fire and fuel conditions are about a month ahead of normal," said Fire Management Officer Cliff Hutton of the Northwest Colorado Fire Management Unit, which announced the sweeping ban Tuesday.

Lynn Barclay, spokeswoman and fire mitigation specialist for the Bureau of Land Management, said that although individual agencies will set their own specific fire guidelines, Tuesday's announcement indicated that restrictions will be put in place across the region today.

"That was a broad message indicating to people that there will be some kind of fire restrictions," Barclay said. "The broad stroke is that there will be no open fires anywhere."

U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Diann Ritschard said Tuesday night that though she didn't yet know the particulars, fire restrictions for the Routt National Forest will be made effective today.

Also on Tuesday, Routt County Commissioners enacted a countywide ban on open fires, effective at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

"It's been getting progressively drier," Chuck Vale, director of the county's emergency management department, told commissioners. "We're afraid that we won't have enough (fire suppression) resources if something gets started. We're just barely wetter than we were in 2002."

In that year, the state's Department of Local Affairs reported 36 wildfires in Colorado, including the Mt. Zirkel Complex fire 25 miles north of Steamboat Springs. The Burn Ridge and Hinman fires combined to form the Mt. Zirkel Complex fire, which burned 31,016 acres, injured 14 people and cost $13.3 million.

The complex fire, started by lightning, occurred in the same area as the current Rainbow Family of Living Light gathering, which so far has drawn an estimated 4,000 people to Routt National Forest land near Big Red Park in North Routt County. The gathering ends July 7, but many participants are expected to linger in the area. The Hinman Fire started July 12, 2002.

Barclay said regional fire restrictions allow fires at "campgrounds maintained and established by the Forest Service that are identified and named."

Rainbow participants have created several large, communal kitchens throughout the gathering area. Many of the kitchens include large cook fires in deep fire pits.

Barclay said those fires would likely be prohibited, because the sites are not maintained by the Forest Service.

Routt County's fire ban, similar to the larger, eight-county ban, prohibits the following activities:

Building, maintaining, att--ending or using any fire to burn trash, debris, fence rows or vegetation. Any campfire, warming fire or charcoal grill, except in designated campgrounds, picnic areas or developed recreational sites. Charcoal grills at private residences are not banned.

Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site, or while stopped in an area of at least 3 feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable material.

Operating a chain saw without a USDA or SAE approved spark-arresting device properly installed and in effective working order. A chemical pressurized fire extinguisher and a round pointed shovel are also required for chain saw use.

Welding or operating an acetylene torch or other torch with an open flame, except within an area that is barren or cleared of all flammable material for at least 10 feet on all sides from the equipment.

Using explosives requiring fuse blasting caps.

The following activities are exempted from the fire ban in Routt County:

Any fires contained within liquid-fueled or gas stoves, fireplaces within buildings, and permanent fire pits or fire grates located in developed picnic grounds and campgrounds.

Burning of irrigation ditches located within and completely surrounded by irrigated farmlands, where such burning is necessary for crop survival and a specific written permit has been granted in advance by the Routt County Sheriff.

Routt County's fire ban will be in place until county commissioners remove it, upon the recommendation of Vale and Routt County Sheriff John Warner.

-- To reach Mike Lawrence, call 871-4203

or e-mail mlawrence@steamboatpilot.com