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Colorado wildfires: Updates on the 2022 season [1]

['Chase Woodruff', 'Newsline Staff', 'More From Author', '- May', '- Friday May', '- Thursday May']

Date: 2022-05-19 00:00:00

When Colorado lawmakers and emergency officials gave an update in April ahead of the 2022 wildfire season, their assessment was grim.

“We may very well be heading into the worst fire season in our state’s history,” Senate President Steve Fenberg, a Democrat from Boulder, said at a news conference at the Capitol. “I hope I am terribly wrong about that, but we need to prepare for the worst-case scenario.”

As of May 17, more than half of Colorado remained under a “severe” drought classification from the U.S. Drought Monitor, and that figure could rise throughout the summer after a faster-than-usual depletion of snowpack across the state. High winds and unseasonably warm spring temperatures have exacerbated fire risk, especially in the foothills along the Front Range and on the Eastern Plains.

“Episodes of strong downslope wind events off the … Front Range eastward across the High Plains were much more frequent and intense,” wrote officials with the National Interagency Fire Center in a May update. “The National Weather Service offices in Wyoming and Colorado reported record numbers of High Wind Warnings. In April, Colorado observed 19 consecutive days with Red Flag Warnings, which is unprecedented.”

As the year began, crews were still working to officially contain the smoldering Marshall Fire, which tore through suburban communities in Boulder County on Dec. 30, killing two people and destroying more than 1,000 homes. Since then, several small fires have similarly threatened Front Range communities, including the NCAR Fire in Boulder in late March and a May 14 grass fire that caused a shelter-in-place order at the Colorado Springs Airport.

Monthly forecasts from the NIFC continue to project above-average risk for “significant wildland fires” across much of Colorado in May and June.

Fueled by climate change, much of Colorado has grown hotter and drier in recent decades, increasing wildfire risk. The three largest wildfires in Colorado history all occurred in 2020, and the state’s 20 biggest fires on record have all occurred in the past 20 years.

Climate change and forest management Rising concentrations of heat-trapping gases in the Earth’s atmosphere — mostly the result of fossil-fuel combustion — have caused many parts of the state, especially on the Western Slope, to warm by an average of more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels. Severe drought conditions have persisted across the state for much of the past two decades, a historic dry spell that scientists say is driven in large part by rising temperatures. State and federal officials have also emphasized the role of effective “forest management” in mitigating wildfire risk. In Colorado and elsewhere, aggressive suppression of wildfires throughout much of the 20th century has led to overgrown forests that are primed to burn and in need of treatment to reduce fuels. Contrary to some claims, however, rough terrain and low-value wood products make timber harvesting in most of Colorado’s forests impractical. The Colorado State Forest Service has estimated that about 10% of the state’s 24 million forested acres are in urgent need of treatment, at a potential cost of $4.2 billion. Prevention and preparedness The vast majority of wildfires are caused by human activity. To minimize the risk of sparking a fire, authorities urge visitors to national forests and other public lands to follow local fire restrictions, ensure that vehicles are properly maintained and trailer chains are secured, and avoid driving or parking on dry grass. In 2017, the State Forest Service reported that more than 2.9 million Coloradans lived in the “wildland-urban interface” — areas at risk of being impacted by wildfires. Fire safety experts urge residents of such zones to familiarize themselves with the “Ready, Set, Go” system of precautions.

Last updated 12:45 p.m., May 19, 2022.

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[1] Url: https://coloradonewsline.com/2022/05/19/colorado-wildfires-updates-on-the-2022-season/

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