Home

The drought seemingly is over and there are fewer dry thunderstorms this year starting fires, Lynn Barclay said.

But, as the season changes, and the days get shorter and the land gets dryer and the mercury continues to rise, the danger from fire increases, she added.

Barclay, spokesperson for the Northwest Colorado Fire Management Unit, said there have been two human-caused fires so far this year.

The Fire Management Unit is a cooperative partnership between federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management, and local authorities, such as the Moffat County Sheriff's Office.

Officials suspect a cigarette thrown from a passing car caused one fire off U.S. Highway 40 west of Maybell.

The fire reached 20 acres in size before officials stopped its sprawling.

"We do want people to be aware that conditions are changing," Barclay said. "We don't have fire restrictions in place, and we don't want to put them in place unnecessarily, but people can play in staving off that. If they try to be more careful, they can help."

So far this year, there have been fewer fires than might normally be seen by the end of July, Barclay said. The reason is two-fold.

One, a wet winter and extended, wet spring has kept fire potential low for a time.

"The drought situation has eased in Northwest Colorado," Barclay said. "That moisture held off the beginning of the fire season."

Also, an abnormally low number of dry thunderstorms - with more lightning than rain - have kept the number of wildland fires down.

"What is atypical this year is we're not picking up the number of lightning-ignited fires we normally do," Barclay said.

Moffat County sits on the edge of typical monsoonal storm flows that hit the southwest United States about this time each year, she said.

"Sometimes that brings moisture and sometimes it doesn't," Barclay added.

However, thunderstorms last week started more than 16 fires in western Moffat and Rio Blanco counties.

A Fire Management Unit news release states most of those now are contained and were limited to three acres in size or fewer.

The largest of the remaining blazes is near the Kraft Draw, northwest of Maybell and north of Colorado Highway 318.

The fire currently occupies about 668 acres of BLM public land. The Fire Management Unit's Yampa Valley crew is focused on containment right now, Barclay said, and expects to let the fire burn itself out.

The land is considered "benefited by fire," Barclay said, which means fire normally clears old grass and trees and lets younger plants grow.

Officials said the fire will be completely contained and close to burning out by July 28. Smoke may be visible until then.

Fire danger is high to very high across the state, Barclay said. BLM encourages travelers to check local fire restrictions on the Colorado Division of Emergency Management Web site at dola.colorado.gov/dem/index.html.

Officials also ask that residents not light fires on windy days and to carry a shovel and water on hand when building fires.

Collin Smith can be reached at 875-1794 or cesmith@craigdailypress.com