Unincorporated Larimer County to lift fire restrictions Wednesday

Sady Swanson, Fort Collins Coloradoan
·3 min read

Larimer County will lift fire restrictions Wednesday night — for now, county leaders say.

The county's current fire restrictions put in place at the end of April will expire at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Larimer County commissioners decided Tuesday.

"The recommendation from the sheriff's office is that we let the current restrictions expire and then just, as we normally do, keep a really close eye on it," Larimer County Sheriff's Office Emergency Operations Director Justin Whitesell told commissioners Tuesday. "Obviously with the conditions we're experiencing I'm assuming we'll be back into restrictions at some point this year, but I do feel comfortable taking them off for now."

Fire restrictions on open fires were put in place for unincorporated Larimer County at the end of April ahead of forecasted windy weather. The commissioners voted to enact restrictions for two weeks and requested the sheriff's office come back with an update on the county's current fire danger before deciding to extend restrictions or let them expire.

Even though the weather forecast for the next two weeks shows warm temperatures in the 70s and 80s and little precipitation, Whitesell told commissioners the county's fire danger has been low to moderate in recent days and he doesn't think fire restrictions are necessary right now.

But with above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation forecast through July, Whitesell said he's expecting the county will go back under fire restrictions at some point. All of Larimer County is in some kind of drought, with southeast Larimer County in severe drought, he told commissioners.

More: Want to help your lawn and trees survive Colorado's dry, windy weather? Here are some tips

Capt. Joe Shellhammer said being in fire restrictions for two weeks allowed the sheriff's office to get about 30 new firefighters trained in addition to its approximately 60 returning firefighters from previous years, so it is more prepared to respond if a wildfire were to start.

"The two weeks that we were in restrictions, it bought us some time to get our staffing 100% trained, ready to go," he told commissioners.

The commissioners asked Whitesell to come to their May 24 meeting to give an update on the county's fire conditions and make a recommendation about returning to fire restrictions.

There are no fire restrictions within Fort Collins city limits as of Tuesday.

Stage 1 fire restrictions remain in place in Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. Here are the activities prohibited in those areas:

  • Starting, building or using a fire — including fires fueled by charcoal or briquettes — outside a permanent metal or concrete fire pit or grate installed by the forest service at campgrounds and picnic areas.

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

  • Operating a chainsaw without an effective and properly installed spark arrestor, a fire extinguisher and a shovel.

  • Blasting, welding or operating a torch with an open flame without being in a cleared area of at least 10 feet in diameter and having a fire extinguisher.

  • Using an explosive, including but not limited to: fuses, blasting caps, fireworks (which are always prohibited), rockets, exploding targets, tracers and incendiary ammunition.

These restrictions apply to Clear Creek, Boulder and Canyon Lakes ranger districts within national forest land. Other neighboring counties have enacted fire restrictions, including Boulder and Jefferson counties.

Previous coverage: What's behind Colorado's recent rash of wildfires, grassfires? We asked a climatologist

Sady Swanson covers public safety, criminal justice, Larimer County government and more throughout Northern Colorado. You can send your story ideas to her at sswanson@coloradoan.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Unincorporated Larimer County to lift fire restrictions Wednesday