Colorado Springs fire official: Top 3 causes of wildfires are men, women and children

Apr. 22—In late March, a woman in Park County emptied ashes out of her fireplace and set them on the side of her barn. They smoldered for a few days, and when the wind picked up the still-hot embers ignited, and 1,559 acres went up in flames in what became the 403 fire.

A couple of weeks later, an 83-year-old man in the same neck of the woods for some unknown reason "decided to get up and burn weeds with a propane burner," said Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw.

The man did that despite there being an area fire ban prohibiting open flames, ashes or heat sources.

The octogenarian now is facing a felony arson charge, as his actions sparked a 41-acre wildfire in the Badger Creek area near Hartsel, which burned a resident's truck and injured a firefighter with a superficial burn, McGraw said.

"They were trying to stop the fire from reaching the neighbor's house, which they did save," McGraw said.

"We had 65 firefighters — federal, state and local — a helicopter dumping water, two tankers making dumps, multi-mission aircraft telling us which direction the fire was going, and thousands and thousands of dollars spent," he said.

Also this month, authorities reported that a hunter's campfire was the source of a wildfire near the Beulah Valley west of Pueblo, which burned 50 acres.

The origins of other recent fires in southern Colorado have yet to be announced, but there's a good chance they began unintentionally or intentionally at human hands.

Whether through apathy, ignorance or plain old stupidity, humans are the cause of 85% to 90% of wildfires in the United States, according to the U.S. Forest Service and the National Interagency Fire Center.

It's frustrating, said Colorado Springs Fire Marshal Brett Lacey.

"When I speak to the public, what I'll typically say is the top three causes of our wildfires are men, women and children," he said.

"While I'm adding a little levity, the fact is it comes down to improper behavior."

People are negligent when building campfires, handling barbecue grills, discarding cigarette butts, disposing of ashes, letting metal drag from vehicles, welding outdoors and just plain messing around with fire, Lacey said.

"We're in a populated area, and we have people that are careless with fire and tons of combustible fuel sources," he said.

When dry, hot, windy weather conditions persist, as over the past month, fire is on every Coloradan's mind.

The nation saw 66,255 wildfires in 2022, which burned 7.6 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Of those fires, the agency lists 61,429 as human caused.

In Colorado, about half of the state's 5.8 million residents are said to live in areas at risk for wildfire.

That's why it's important to mitigate personal property and take precautions, to give firefighters a fighting chance to defend structures, said U.S. Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell.

She and other fire officials stopped in Colorado Springs last week on a three-city tour to advocate for wildfire prevention and release a new report on the nation's challenges.

"We have a wildfire problem," Moore-Merrell said while here.

Not much can be done about lightning or coal-seam fires that burn underground and can become wildfire sources in forests and on treed land that interfaces with developed urban property, said Park County's McGraw.

But human-caused fires are preventable, he said.

"We put a lot of resources into these fires, and the final thing is that our beautiful forests are burnt," he said. "If you've ever looked at the aftermath of a wildfire, it's just devastating."

Anyone who starts a fire or violates a fire ban can be criminally charged with a misdemeanor or felony offense, depending on the amount of property damage and injuries.

"We're going to go after everybody who has a violation," McGraw said.

So, if while camping this summer, you light a campfire, a strong wind rises and suddenly the forest is ablaze, you've committed arson, he said.

Courts also can impose the monetary amount it cost to fight the fire, in terms of manpower and apparatus used.

"Whether people actually pay is another matter," McGraw said. "But we try to get local firefighting reimbursed. An individual who started a fire (in Park County) three years ago is still paying restitution."

Whoever started the Waldo Canyon fire, which began 11 years ago in June and burned 346 homes, has yet to be found.

But Colorado Springs police haven't given up. Tips continue to come into the police department, said spokesman Robert Tornabene.

"This is still an active and open homicide investigation," he said.

Two people died while trying to evacuate their home during the fire, which authorities believe was started by a human.

"There is always hope to solve this investigation, as all it takes is one tip with good information," Tornabene said.

The Black Forest fire, which will mark its 10th anniversary on June 11, also was determined to be human caused, with no suspect identified to date.

"People need to be cautious," McGraw said. "If we have a fire ban, there's a reason for it."

His county issued $30,000 in fire ban tickets in 2021, which carry a charge of $500 for a first-time violation, $750 for a second and $1,000 after that for the same person or incident.

"We were very aggressive on it, that year was a dry season," McGraw said.

This summer's forecast is difficult to predict, said Kyle Mozley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pueblo.

After three years of a La Niña weather pattern, which typically brings drier, hotter air, the nation is entering an El Niño trend, which usually results in wetter conditions, he said.

"The atmosphere globally is in a rapid change right now, switching to the El Niño phase, and during that transition, there can be some uncertainty as far as how things look into the future because other patterns may influence it," he said.

March came in like a lion, though, and the beast has stuck around.

In recent weeks, the number of red-flag warning days for certain parts of the state, including El Paso, Teller and Park counties, has been as high as the above-normal temperatures and wind gusts. When coupled with low moisture and humidity, the alert means wildfires can spread quickly.

The red-flag alert indicates weather and fuel conditions are critical for fire danger.

"We've been in a pretty persistent pattern," Mozley said.

Not all of Colorado is in the same pattern, though. The San Luis Valley's Sangre de Cristo Range and Wet Mountains and the plains of Colorado are very dry, he said. While the Continental Divide, San Juans and Sawatch mountains are snowpacked, Mozley noted.

Some are counting on El Niño to look with favor on Colorado this summer.

"We're projecting a more normal summer for Colorado Springs," said Lacey, the fire marshal. "With El Niño coming, we're going to miss the super-high temperatures — but we may also miss some of the moisture.

"Our bigger concern is we have such unhealthy and overgrown forests that fires that do start will behave much more erratically than in the past."