Hazy skies caused by nearby prescribed burns
Photo by Nicole Miller / nmiller@summitdaily.com
Hazy skies in Summit County on Friday afternoon are nothing to worry about according to local fire officials.
A couple of nearby counties, including Eagle and Pitkin, had controlled burns planned for the day.
Fire managers with the U.S. Forest Service planned to ignite a prescribed fire Friday, May 7, near Woody Creek, 9 miles north of Aspen, according to The Aspen Times. Firefighters planned to burn up to 1,500 acres “to improve wildlife habitat and reduce fuels for wildfires,” according to a Forest Service news release.
Controlled burn work also is continuing in Eagle County, where fire managers from the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit are continuing work to burn 2,000 acres in the White River National Forest about 9 miles northeast of El Jebel and 9 miles southwest of Gypsum, according to the Vail Daily.
Smoke from those prescribed burns is blowing into Summit County, where two early season fires have some residents on edge.
While Vail is under a red flag fire weather warning Friday, Summit County is breezy but expecting a wet weekend ahead, with chances of rain or snow through Tuesday.
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