Fire Retardant Drop on Temple Canyon Fire
(photo courtesy of Tracy Harmon)
Unseasonably hot and dry weather late in the season prompted the Fremont County Commissioners today to impose a fire ban for all unincorporated areas of Fremont County. The Commissioners conducted a special meeting this morning to impose the fire ban at the request Tuesday of Fremont County Sheriff Jim Beicker.
Sheriff Beicker told the board at Tuesday’s meeting that recent wildfires along the Front Range as well as a fire in the Temple Canyon area south of Cañon City last Friday caused him to consider reinstituting the fire ban. A five acre fire on BLM public lands just west of Fremont County’s Ecology Park on the site of Cañon City’s old landfill flared last Friday (see photo). Quick response by local firefighters and three drops of aerial fire retardant helped to quickly bring the fire under control.
A fire ban had been in place throughout July but it was lifted after thundershowers in August substantially lowered the wildfire threat. However the August rains produced ample vegetation growth which has dried out significantly in recent weeks. Through the midway point of September only .02 of an inch of rain has been recorded at the cooperative government weather station in Cañon City.
With the Commissioners unanimous approval of a resolution putting a fire ban into effect, Sheriff Beicker said he is imposing Stage One fire restrictions prohibiting all open and agricultural burning in the unincorporated areas of Fremont County. Details on Stage One fire restrictions can be found on the county’s home web page at www.fremontco.com.