High winds elevate fire dangers
Springtime in February reached a peak Thursdaywith a lot ofsun and record breaking warm temperatures. Unfortunately, too much wind came along with it.
Since early in themorning, gusts were a nuisance. Dust, trash and trash cans blew about. Trees were even uprooted in some neighborhoods.
But the big concern on days like these is the fire danger.
Red Flag Warnings went up in advance of the high winds, warning of elevated fire chances. In fact, there were several small fires in the Pueblo area Thursday and a larger one in Punkin Center in Lincoln County.
Chief Chris Riley of the Colorado Springs Fire Department took some time on Thursday to explain what drives the chances up.
“When we get the humidity down and the winds high, we start getting a real high fire danger, so we are in a Red Flag Warning, as we call it, which means higher fire danger,” he said.
Even though there was a snowstorm just a couple weeks ago, much of it has melted and Chief Riley says it has exposed a lot of that dry, brown grass which is the perfect fuel for wildfires.
It can often become repetitive, asking people to be careful on dry, windy days, but Thursday’s fires are proof that it can’t be repeated often enough.
