Fremont County Sheriff Jim Beicker announced that effective at 12 noon last Friday, the fire ban across unincorporated areas of Fremont County was reduced from Stage 2 to Stage 1 fire restrictions. Sheriff Beicker said the decision to lower to Stage 1 fire restrictions came as the result of other agencies and neighboring counties reducing their fire restrictions in light of recent monsoon rains.
Earlier last week federal agencies in the area announced that they too were reducing fire restrictions. The U.S. Forest Service, Pike and San Isabel National Forests in Fremont and Custer counties along with 12 other counties recently reduced the Stage 2 fire and smoking restrictions to Stage 1 on public lands.
The restrictions in Stage 1 include building, maintaining, attending or using a fire, campfire or stove fire in the open. But campfires are permitted in campgrounds and picnic grounds, developed by the U.S. Forest Service, but only in the fire grates and grills, provided by the forest service.
Commercial campgrounds in the Royal Gorge Region had pressed officials to reduce the fire restrictions to Stage 1 after they said they were losing customers who did not want to camp at those campgrounds unless they could have a campfire.
Under Stage 1 fire restrictions, smoking is also prohibited except in enclosed vehicles or buildings, developed recreation sites or while stopped in an area with at least 3 feet in diameter that is cleared from flammable material, the release said. The complete list of Stage 1 fire restrictions can be viewed from a link on the home page of www.fremontco.com.