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Wildfire in Boulder County second new blaze in 4 days

A wildfire sparked in Boulder County Tuesday night, the second new fire in the area over the past four days.

The 2-acre fire on the north side of Flagstaff Mountain near Artist Point was described as a slow moving blaze with low-level flames, according to a video posted by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office on social media Tuesday night.

The fire, dubbed the Realization Fire, could be seen and its smoke could be smelled throughout Boulder Tuesday night, officials said. Crews reached 100% containment around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday and remained overnight to monitor the area for hotspots and mop it up.

There are no reported injuries or structure damage from the fire, Boulder Fire Rescue said on social media Wednesday morning. Artist Point, Artist Point Road and Boy Scout Trail will remain closed for the day as crews continue fire suppression work in the area.

The recent ignitions haven’t been more necessarily common than what usually befalls the area this time of the year, but with the lack of precipitation in the area they have the potential to be far larger, said Dustin Blair, Assistant Fire Management Officer for the office.

“In our lower elevation Ponderosa forest, the needles fall, go dormant and dry out,” Blair said. “The grasses in the flats are also fully cured and are easily available to burn. Even the cattails are drying out.”

The temperature in Boulder hit a high of 78 degrees Friday, according to data from the National Weather Service. Tuesday saw a high of 60, the third-lowest high temperature in November. The area has not seen any precipitation since last month.

Tuesday’s fire was the second in just a four-day span in Boulder County. On Friday afternoon, a grass fire sparked near Cherryvale Drive and U.S. Hwy 36 around 3 p.m., officials said, sending considerable smoke over the roadway busy with afternoon traffic.

The blaze, about 8 acres in size, was contained within an hour, officials said. Fire crews remained on the scene into the evening to put out hotspots.

Even as the calendar gets deeper into the winter months, the longer the area goes without any major precipitation is a concern for fire officials, Blair said.

“Until we get a significant weather event, significant rain or snow, we’re worried about fires,” Blair said. “Historically, there’s not a particular fire season, but over the past few years we’ve seen snow and rain come increasingly later in the year. We’re now seeing an augment of what was a typical fire season for the area.”


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