Thousands of burn piles wait in Colorado's forests: "We're going to have the big tragedies"

They sit like haystacks in a field; piles of debris, waiting to be consumed. but in this case, it is by fire.

In Evergreen, as well as other Colorado communities, burn piles await ignition as efforts increase to mitigate fires on forest land.

"We believe there are 3,800 burn piles in Evergreen's fire district. And tens of thousands more across the state," said Einar Jensen, risk reduction coordinator at Evergreen Fire Rescue.

The season of burning is still ahead. There is no burning until the near winter.

"There's a lot more science involved when it comes to actually working with these burn piles," Jensen said.

Burn season runs November to March. There has to be four inches of snow on the ground. But that's just part of the requirements. While homeowners can seek their own burn permits, for fire departments and state and federal authorities, burning requires a certified burn boss to seek approvals. The paperwork is many dozens of pages and approvals from a variety of government entities, including the Department of Public Health and Environment.

"We don't have a burn boss currently," Jensen said. "It's tough work. It's a lot of responsibility."

In Jefferson County, a handful of people are now working to become certified. But it takes time.

"One of our wildland captains is going to be one of the first five Type III burn bosses officially for Jefferson County," Jensen said.

A boss will choose individual piles to ignite when the time comes to keep the flames from igniting a larger wildfire. Part of the reason for all the red tape is prior disasters. In 2012, a controlled burn near Conifer blew embers outside a perimeter and ignited the Lower North Fork Fire, killing three people and destroying 27 homes.

Bosses look at current and future weather. They consider the risk of the spread of fire, as well as pollution.

"They'll pick a day where the smoke disperses quickly in the atmosphere. It won't sink down into the neighborhoods," Jensen said.

Burn piles may wait, but it's a sign of progress. There is a lot of coordination between landowners. In Evergreen, hundreds of piles sit on land belonging to Denver Mountain Parks. There is also state and federal land. And private land homeowners have mitigated.

"We're in a wildfire-prone ecosystem and until we figure that out, until we embrace that we're in the wildfire-prone ecosystem, we're going to have the big tragedies," said Jensen.