By this time last summer, 12 significant wildfires had ignited in Colorado, wreaked varying levels of havoc and waned into relative containment. In all, nearly 148,000 acres burned along with 571 structures – the vast majority of homes were lost in the Black Forest Fire outside Colorado Springs. It was, by all accounts, a devastating fire season, and the relatively dry winter had the state braced for yet another in 2014. That has failed to materialize, and a year’s reprieve from deep and dangerous drought is welcome – as is the rain that has provided the relief.
While rainfall in Durango is, year-to-date, below the annual average, steady showers have lessened fire risk throughout the region. The National Interagency Fire Center predicts that as the summer wanes, Colorado’s fire risk will as well – from normal to below-normal levels. That is a far cry from the West Coast forecast, which calls for above-normal fire risk at least until October, and only decreasing somewhat thereafter. The moisture spread across the Southwest has failed to materialize in deeply drought-stricken California, Nevada, Oregon and parts of Washington and Texas.
What has fallen in Colorado, though, helped stave off what many had predicted to be an extreme fire year – especially in the state’s southeastern and southwestern reaches, where drought had settled in for several years past. So great was the concern, born from years of massive and many fires, that the Colorado Legislature spent significant time and money preparing for the worst. Most significantly, the state will spend $20 million for its own firefighting fleet, including four leased tankers, four leased helicopters and two fire-spotting airplanes. The Legislature also initiated a $3.25 million grant program to fund training and gear for local fire departments, as well as a tax credit for property owners’ fire-mitigation efforts. At Sen. Ellen Roberts’, R-Durango, urging, the Legislature also passed a measure aiming to improve radio frequency coordination for emergency responders. This legislative suite was justifiable given the fire trends year after year in Colorado. Certainly any proactive means by which fire can be avoided are welcome in wet and dry years – training, brush-clearing and coordinated communications.
The reprieve that rainy weather patterns has brought, though, is even more welcome. Billowing smoke, dramatic and devastating images of homes and habitat engulfed in flames, and a cringe at every lightning strike have become too much the norm in recent years. Instead, summer 2014 has meant a productive growing season for the region’s gardeners and farmers, yielding prolific produce and agricultural feed. That, not shell-shock and fire exhaustion, is a far more comfortable position to hold in August.
