Officials warn of fire danger
By Bill McKeown, The Gazette
Friday, March 28, 2008
The fire danger in the southern Front Range mountains and on prairie grasslands will be higher than normal during the next 90 days, the U.S. Forest Service says.
The short-range forecast for the region, issued by the agency this week, calls for higher-than-normal temperatures and less-than-normal moisture from the Palmer Divide to Rocky Ford from April through June.
The agency predicts increasing fire danger in the coming months at the edge of the Pike National Forest along the Interstate 25 corridor and at the Comanche and Cimarron national grasslands in southeastern Colorado.
Brent Botts, district ranger of the Pike National Forest, said that the forecast may seem odd, with Pikes Peak still capped in snow and much of the state yet to dig out from a snowier-than-normal winter.
He said the latest forecast on temperature and moisture, coupled with the strong spring winds that typically rake the region and forest floors thick with dead and dormant grasses, could spell trouble for the Front Range.
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