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Take necessary precautions to help prevent wildfires
Colorado’s annual wildfire season is underway, and multiple fires are burning hundreds of acres in the state’s high country and elsewhere. Wildfires currently active in Colorado at this writing include a fire east of Durango on federal land, another fire near Craig, the Straight Creek Fire near Silverthorne, and a wildfire in Jefferson County near Foxton.
There are multiple calls for wildlife mitigation throughout the state as the Rocky Mountains and high plains to the east and west of the high country are described as a “tinderbox.” It has been reported that the wildlife-fighting Global Super Tanker is shut down as the fire season begins. Why is anyone’s guess!?
Bracing for more big wildfires, Colorado’s leaders at the state, county, and local levels have shifted their strategy to “fight fires when they are small.” Really? Does anyone think that firefighters should wait until the fire is big before fighting it?
It’s important that Colorado residents follow the rules during the fire season, such as no open fires where they are banned, no smoking, and dousing legal campfires completely with water followed by stirring the coals, more water, and then more stirring.
There are those around the country who attribute wildfires to global warming. But when you have all the facts, it is very evident that climate-driven fires are a myth. So here are a few facts based on reputable research and documentation over the course of several decades:
Lightning is responsible for 44 percent of the fires, debris burning 29 percent, and arson 21 percent. Campfires and cigarette butts make up most of the remaining six percent. Droughts are also part of the problem, and these dry periods have been part of nature’s grand design for millions of years and they are likely to continue for millenniums to come, so take precautions and follow guidelines and helpful tips to prevent wildfires when you take to Colorado’s majestic high country.
There are multiple calls for wildlife mitigation throughout the state as the Rocky Mountains and high plains to the east and west of the high country are described as a “tinderbox.” It has been reported that the wildlife-fighting Global Super Tanker is shut down as the fire season begins. Why is anyone’s guess!?
Bracing for more big wildfires, Colorado’s leaders at the state, county, and local levels have shifted their strategy to “fight fires when they are small.” Really? Does anyone think that firefighters should wait until the fire is big before fighting it?
It’s important that Colorado residents follow the rules during the fire season, such as no open fires where they are banned, no smoking, and dousing legal campfires completely with water followed by stirring the coals, more water, and then more stirring.
There are those around the country who attribute wildfires to global warming. But when you have all the facts, it is very evident that climate-driven fires are a myth. So here are a few facts based on reputable research and documentation over the course of several decades:
Lightning is responsible for 44 percent of the fires, debris burning 29 percent, and arson 21 percent. Campfires and cigarette butts make up most of the remaining six percent. Droughts are also part of the problem, and these dry periods have been part of nature’s grand design for millions of years and they are likely to continue for millenniums to come, so take precautions and follow guidelines and helpful tips to prevent wildfires when you take to Colorado’s majestic high country.
