Rain ... the double edged sword for Colorado wildfires
Yes, we've had more rain. No, it doesn't' mean you won't start a wildfire. They might even be worse down the line.
Colorado wildfire experts say the summer of 2022 has been wetter than the last few summers we've had, and that IS a good thing for fighting wildfire chances. The problem becomes later in the season, when our green grasses and abundant wildflowers dry under the hot dry September sun, and those once lush landscapes become overgrown dry fuel piles for hungry wildfires.
"We should be enjoying how green it is and how cool and wonderful June has been," Wildfire Specialist with Summit Fire EMS Hannah Ohlson said. "But it can't be an excuse to become complacent in our mitigation efforts and in the way that we are recreating in our forests."
Summit Fire has been keeping an eye on the trends and sees the wildfire power potential grow along with the heights of the grasses. While the semi-consistent moisture has been a current blessing for wildfire protection, our climate in Colorado simply doesn't work that way, for long anyway.
"When we look at a season, small bouts of moisture over a series of time can be more beneficial than two days and an inch of rain followed by two weeks of nothing," Wildfire Specialist with Summit fire EMS Doug Lesch said. "Because of that arid climate we live in and how quickly we lose that moisture. "
So, rain does change things, but it's not amounts but timing that mostly matters. In terms of combatting the extra fuels, Lesch simply added "Mow your lawns, mitigate where you can."
Ohlson said the growth of fuels may not come into play this late summer/fall, but it's a constant that could hold into our spring of 2023 and add fuel to the fires then. Still given the choice she said more moisture is always a good thing, issues with fuels aside.
The one thing she was especially clear on was ignition. We can't control the weather, or lightning strikes, but we can control human-caused ignitions, and she said the fewer of those we have, the better we can navigate our changing and more dangerous wildfire landscape of Colorado.
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