Fire restrictions lifted in El Paso County
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Due to the recent moisture, cities here in El Paso county have started to lift fire restrictions in their areas. At the start of the week, Manitou Springs, Fountain, and Colorado Springs decided to all make the move at the same time.
Fire Marshall Brett Lacey with the Colorado Springs Fire Department said, “We reserved the right obviously individually to do what we need to do to protect our citizens, but as we can coordinate and cooperate we will do that together which we have done in this case.”
So what lead to this decision? Fire Marshall Lacey said, “The last few snowstorms that we’ve got provided a significant precipitation, at least in the short term.”
However, issues do arise when lifting fire restrictions. For one, Lacey still stresses the importance of fire safety and reminds people to not get lazy; two, homeless campfires start to become an issue. However, Lacey asks that you do not call 911 for every homeless campfire you see.
“I want the public to know they will probably see an increase in the number of fires within some of those camps and I want to urge them not to call 911 for those because the restrictions are lifted.”
But if you see a fire that is clearly out of control then Lacey asks that you do call. And since Colorado Springs is a naturally dry climate, you could very well see the fire ban return sooner rather than later.
“We will continue to monitor it very carefully and if the moisture decreases and fuels begin to dry out we will move right back into restrictions again,” said Lacey.
