Thursday, July 14th - Wildland Fire Potential Increasing... Larimer County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Services would like to advise the public of the high possibility of wildland fires this summer due to the recent spell of high temperatures and extremely dry brush and grass. “All in all, we appear to be in a transitional phase where fire activity and large fire occurrence could begin,” said Sgt. Don Griffith. “Right now we are getting good humidity recoveries at night which is very helpful. If temperatures stay up for another week or so, things could change,” he added. “To date, we have had eleven relatively small wildland fires in Larimer County this year. We have been successful in keeping the fires small due to an aggressive response with, among other resources, a SEAT (Single Engine Air Tanker) which holds 800 gallons of water or fire retardant. Normally we will have a SEAT nearby except when it is called to a large fire, such as the Mason Fire. We worked very hard to have access to the SEAT at our disposal,” Griffith said. Sheriff Alderden advised that conditions, at this time, do not warrant fire restrictions. “We are concerned that the grass fuels are extremely high and as they mature and dry, we will have the potential for extreme conditions. At that time, we will explore the possibility of fire restrictions. We continually reassess the fire conditions and the need for fire restrictions or bans,” Alderden added. |