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Smoke in Summit County attributed to Pine Gulch Fire near Grand Junction

Smoky air made its way into Summit County the morning of Sunday, Aug. 9.
Photo by Taylor Sienkiewicz / tsienkiewicz@summitdaily.com

FRISCO — Summit County woke up on Sunday, Aug. 9, to smoky air and a hazy horizon, which is being attributed to smoke from the Pine Gulch Fire according to Robert Koopmeiners, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Boulder.

The fire was reported on July 31 and is burning in Mesa and Garfield Counties, about 18 miles north of Grand Junction according to the Incident Information System. As of Sunday morning, the fire spanned 21,364 acres and was 7% contained. Koopmeiners said the winds are blowing west to east and upslope, which is why Summit County is experiencing smoky conditions.

The National Weather Service put out a hazardous weather outlook, stating that hot and generally dry weather will continue through the week and that there will be elevated fire danger. Summit Fire & EMS has listed the fire danger on Sunday as high. Koopmeiners said there is a 30% chance of afternoon thunderstorms on Monday and Tuesday, but that he doesn’t anticipate them bringing much precipitation.

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