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Fire chiefs hold off on burn bans

Precipitation late last year has helped
A thunderstorm passes through La Plata County about this time last year creating lightning strikes from Animas Mountain to Missionary Ridge. Moisture content in fuels this year has been good, and so far the only entities enacting fire bans in the region have been the Ute tribes.

This time of year, lightning strikes are common in La Plata and Montezuma counties, but the number of fires started as a result remain low.

La Plata County commissioners got an update on the fire conditions at their Tuesday meeting. The board didn’t make a decision about whether to put a burn ban into place.

“So far, so good,” said Butch Knowlton, director of La Plata County Office of Emergency Management. “Only in the past month or so have we really seen a significant dryout period, the process where all fuels are starting to dry.”

Knowlton said heavy rain and flooding late last year helped keep the ground moist during the first part of this year.

“As we started drying out this spring, especially in May and June, we all – every fire agency within the Southwest Colorado area – started watching the moisture content within fuels,” he said. “Only in the last month or so have we really seen a significant dryout period.”

Fuels include plants and trees. Ground fuels, such as grasses, started drying and turning brown in June. The region has experienced above-average temperatures, hot, dry winds with low humidity and little to no rain. Lightning strikes have been active during the last three days, many southwest of U.S. Highway 160.

“We all fear the fact that when those storms start moving into our area, it’s usually preceded with a considerable amount of lightning,” Knowlton said. “Sometimes we get precipitation with those storms, and a lot of times we don’t.”

Local fire chiefs and representatives of the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs conference every Monday morning to discuss fire conditions.

“Every agency’s concerned about their land, concerned about fires within their authority area,” Knowlton said.

While agencies are concerned about extremely dry conditions contributing to rapid fire growth, higher humidity levels and absorbed moisture within the plants and trees led to a low number of fires last week. Participants in the Monday conference call agreed it wasn’t necessary to request fire restrictions right now, Knowlton said.

“That doesn’t mean we won’t be on your doorstep at the next meeting, or in two weeks, or in three weeks,” Knowlton said. “We just don’t know.”

Burn ban restrictions went into effect for the Southern Ute Indian Reservation and the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation late last month. The tribal restrictions apply to residents, businesses and industrial oil and natural-gas operators on reservation land.

smueller@durangoherald.com



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