Teller County placed under burn restriction

Several counties in Colorado are issuing burning restrictions because of high fire danger. In Southern Colorado, Teller County is the only county to issue a burn restriction so far.

A burn restriction means no open burning is permitted. Explosives, including fireworks, are also banned. Under the restrictions, residents are allowed to use barbeques and pits as long as they’re at least 10 feet away from any combustible material.

“Just because we have a little bit of moisture content, we had a good winter, doesn’t mean the fire hazard has gone away,” Teller County Sheriff Mike Ensminger told KRDO NewsChannel 13. “When these winds kick up to 35, 40, 50 mph like they are today, it’s like they suck the moisture right out of the ground.”

Ensminger said because of a great team effort, firefighters were able to contain the Western Hills Fire that burned dangerously close to homes on Tuesday. At one point, about 30 homes were evacuated. All evacuations and pre-evacuation orders were later lifted.

“It was going to a well-populated area, and we were able to stop that from happening,” Ensminger said.

Ensminger encourages all Teller County residents to download a free app called Nixle to receive notifications about evacuations and safety precautions from the sheriff’s office.

“Whenever we have a message that we need to get out to the community, we’ll send it through Nixle,” Ensminger said. “Like today, we sent a Nixle indicating that we have high winds and to please be aware of that and don’t burn.”

For those who do not have access to Nixle, Ensminger said the sheriff’s office has a reverse notification system in place in case of an emergency.

To learn more about wildfire preparedness, including preparing an emergency kit and creating defensible space, click here.