Stage 2 fire restrictions will begin Thursday for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered lands in Garfield, Grand, Eagle, Pitkin, Mesa, Rio Blanco, and Summit counties.
Several of the individual counties — including Garfield County and the city of Glenwood Springs starting Friday — are also moving to the stage 2 restrictions this week, following a region-wide red flag fire weather warning on Wednesday as two major fires continue to burn between Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction.
“This decision was not made without thoughtful consideration,” stated a Wednesday press release from the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office. “We look at the data, the potential for increased wildfire activity and balance it with the impacts to our community. The current active wildfires in Garfield County have already stretched our available resources and effected our ability to respond as necessary.”
The broader announcement came from the Northwest Colorado Fire Management Unit, which stated in a news release, “Based on recent fire activity in the region and increased fire risk county officials across northwest Colorado along with the Colorado River Valley, Kremmling, and White River field offices have decided to implement stage 2 fire restrictions before this weekend.”
The BLM intends to enforce the following temporary restrictions on all BLM public lands under stage 2 fire restrictions until further notice:
• No campfires: Building, maintaining, attending or using a fire or campfire, charcoal grill, coal, wood burning stove or sheepherders stove, including in developed camping and picnic grounds. Devices using pressurized liquid or gas are exempted.
• Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle, trailer, building or tent.
• Using an explosive requiring fuse or blasting caps, fireworks, rockets,exploding targets and tracers or incendiary ammunition.
• Operating or using any internal combustion engine without a spark arresting device properly installed, maintained and in effective working order.
• Operating a chainsaw without an approved spark arrestor, and without a chemical pressurized fire extinguisher and a round-point shovel with an overall length of at least 35 inches. The extinguisher will be with the equipment operator. The shovel may be kept with fueling supplies but readily available for use.
• Welding, or operating an acetylene or other torch with open flame (except with a current permit, contract or letter of authorization).
• Operating or using any internal combustion engine without a spark arresting device properly installed, maintained and in effective working order.
This content was originally published here.
