Although Summit County has seen some rainstorms this July, they have mostly been “spotty” and featured a lot of lightning, according to Matt Benedict, a Red, White and Blue Fire Protection District division chief.

Benedict called the inconsistent rainstorms “not ideal” in an email July 15, and wrote that although there are more consistent storms in the forecast, the “very high” fire danger adjective likely will not change until those storms have materialized.

Other factors in setting the fire danger adjective, Benedict wrote, include fuel groups, resource availability and the probability of new starts. Dead trees killed by pine beetles have “been a problem” this summer, and other fuel groups are starting to dry out as well.

“Hopefully the predicted moisture materializes and prevents (the fuels) from reaching critical levels,” Benedict wrote.

Dry fuels combined with high visitation numbers in Summit County support staying at a “very high” fire danger adjective, Benedict wrote.

Summit County Undersheriff Peter Haynes briefed the Summit County Board of Commissioners about the most recent fire danger meetings the Sheriff’s Office had with local and state partners on July 15. 

Haynes echoed Benedict’s analysis of rainstorm activity, saying spotty storms have not greatly affected fire restriction considerations. If upcoming storms bring the widespread and consistent rain they are forecasted to, then Haynes said they could help lower the release component, which quantifies the potential energy stored in fuels that could be released in an area.

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“(We are) hoping for that weather to come in in the afternoons,” Haynes said. “(The) fear there is the lightning has been pretty significant lately, and we’re just hoping we don’t have any issue of lightning.”

Some of the fires now burning across the state likely started from lightning strikes, Haynes said. Federal and state firefighting resources have deployed to those fires, which Haynes said means more limited resources should a fire start in Summit County.

Haynes told the commissioners the Sheriff’s Office recommended staying in Stage 1 restrictions, and the commissioners agreed.

Under Stage 1 restrictions, campfires are only allowed in permitted fire rings, like in metal fire rings on developed campgrounds on U.S. Forest Service land. Private land owners need a permit from Red, White & Blue or Summit Fire & EMS to have fires on their property. Those permits expire every two years, according to Benedict.

Permits for backyard campfires, which are available for free on the fire districts’ websites, also require an ember screen and a means to extinguish the fire. Learn more about restrictions at SummitSheriffColorado.gov.

Stage 1 restrictions also place limits on smoking outdoors, using certain equipment among other limitations.