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Colorado governor bans campfires, fireworks for 30 days to prevent new wildfires

The order comes as four major fires are burning more than 130,000 acres in western Colorado. Gov. Jared Polis said three of the blazes are believed to have been human-caused.

Jesse Paul
The Colorado Sun
Williams Fork Fire from County Road 3 on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020.
Courtesy Amy Noraka via Sky-Hi News

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday banned campfires and fireworks across the state for the next 30 days in an attempt to stop new wildfires from igniting.

“We need to do everything we can to prevent new fires from starting,” he said at a news conference.

Polis said barbecues and camp stoves are still allowed, but that other sources of open flame should be avoided.



The order comes as four major fires are burning more than 130,000 acres in western Colorado. Polis said three of the blazes — the Grizzly Creek fire, the Cameron Peak fire and the Williams Forks fire — are believed to be human-caused.

The Grizzly Creek fire, burning near Glenwood Springs, is believed to have been ignited by something dragging on Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon. Authorities say the lack of lightning near where the Cameron Peak and the Williams Forks fires started last week are why they believe they were caused by humans, though the exact source is unknown.



Read more at ColoradoSun.com.

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