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 Fire danger rising locally Our warm, dry weather isn't what wildland firefighters need. They were busy fighting several fires in Southeastern Colorado the first 2 days of December.
One of the fires, near Monument, almost forced authorities to shut down I-25 because of thick smoke.
An hour's drive south, Pueblo West firefighters were fighting a 150 acre fire. Those 2 fires, however, were nothing compared to a 1,500 acre blaze near Hasty, about 25 miles west of Lamar. It burned three vacant mobile homes, and a semi trailer crashed off Highway 50 when the driver couldn't see through the smoke.
Wildland Fire Managers say all the vegetation that grew during our wet Spring and Summer has dried out, and it could be a rough Winter fire season. "As long as the sun's shining on these fuels, these fuels will be ready to burn," said Ralph Bellah, a U.S. Forest Service fire manager. "We have a little bit of moisture then it dampens it for about a day maybe 2 days at the most but as soon as you get sunlight on it it's ready to burn again," he said.
The Pueblo County Sheriff met with several local fire chiefs on Monday. He plans to make an announcement on the fire danger Tuesday afternoon.
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