Tag: Wildfires
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What does Colorado’s first statewide wildfire building code mean for homeowners?
Starting this year, Colorado is the first Western state after California with a statewide, mandatory building code for structures in the wildland-urban interface, where communities encroach on wilderness with wildfire potential. The deadline to adopt the code was April 1. In some jurisdictions, it was a formality cleared with a short discussion and vote. The…
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State touts enhanced firefighting assets as drought drives higher fire danger
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State officials warned Thursday of elevated wildfire risk this summer, particularly in June and July across the Front Range and western Colorado, as severe drought grips much of the state. But investments in firefighting resources should help firefighters better focus on “initial aggressive attack and detection” strategies, they said. Gov. Jared Polis and top firefighting…
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New U.S. Wildland Fire Service key federal partner in Colorado wildfire response
A newly created U.S. Wildland Fire Service is now a key federal partner in Colorado’s wildfire response, officials said this week, as the state prepares for an elevated fire season. The agency, established in January under the Department of the Interior, consolidates wildland firefighters and programs from four DOI bureaus into a single unified organization…
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100% of Colorado now in drought – last time that occurred, a wildfire torched 1,000 homes
Prior to this week, the last time the U.S. Drought Monitor reported that 100 percent of Colorado was experiencing drought was December 28, 2021 – the same week as Boulder County’s Marshall Fire, which killed two people, torched more than 1,000 homes, and caused more than $2 billion in damages to become the most destructive…
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4,200-acre fire prompts evacuation order near Hanover
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order for a nearly 6-mile stretch north to south in Hanover on Wednesday evening. The Hammer fire, located near Hammer Road and Hanover Road, stood at 4,200 acres as of 7 p.m., according to watchduty.org. The evacuation order was in place for Hammer Road east to…
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Polis pushes back after Trump administration again denies federal disaster aid
A dispute over federal disaster aid escalated Monday as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis faulted the Trump administration for rejecting the state’s appeals for assistance following last fall’s fires and flooding. The state initially filed for a Major Disaster Declaration for the Elk and Lee fires in Rio Blanco County last August and for flooding in…
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A perfect storm: Pine beetles thriving following warm, dry winter in Colorado
The warmest winter in Colorado history could lead to record-breaking proliferation of a tiny insect, about the size of a grain of rice, that has killed millions of acres of trees across the Centennial State and contributed to the rapid spread of some of its largest wildfires, according to state officials. Mountain pine and spruce…
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Jeffco adopts updates to wildfire resiliency code
Jefferson County is one of the most at-risk counties for wildfires in the country, and the board of commissioners is attempting to lessen the danger. The Jefferson County commissioners approved updates to the Wildfire Resiliency Code on March 10, including creating buffering areas around structures and tougher building requirements. The changes will go into effect…
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Colorado weather a ‘magnitude worse’ than historic Waldo, Black Forest fire seasons, official says
Colorado’s blistering, dry and breezy conditions have fire officials on edge as the state braces for a wildfire season forecast to be worse than during the Waldo Canyon fire in 2012. Officials warn that wildfires are becoming more frequent, more destructive and larger. “We are not looking good for fire this year,” Colorado Springs Fire…
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Mandatory evacuations still underway for one of 3 wildfires burning in southern Colorado
Containment of a fire that prompted mandatory evacuations while threatening close to 100 structures has increased in recent hours, per an update from the Custer County Sheriff’s Office. Dubbed the Buttermilk fire, the blaze sparked on Wednesday in rugged terrain found west of Highway 69’s stretch between Hillside and Westcliffe. At last report, it had…