Of course, nothing is completely fireproof, but there are steps you can take to decrease your home’s vulnerability. Here is a link to great article on wildfire mitigation. https://csfs.colostate.edu/wildfire-mitigation/protect-your-home-property-from-wildfire/ Steps such as removing dead foliage near your house foundation, trimming tree branches that touch your roof, moving firewood away from[Read More…]
Tag: Fire
Fire Preparedness, Part 2
This week’s column continues concerning fire preparedness with a focus on communications. Notifications. Be sure your phone number has been registered at the Rio Blanco Alert Notification System. If there is a fire emergency near your residence, you will receive a call, email, or text depending on your choices. You[Read More…]
KAYE’S CORNER: Fire preparedness, Part 1
Let’s review some of the essentials to prepare for fire season. Of course, we all hope it won’t happen to our home, community or local areas of beauty. But, past wildfires and the recent Marshall fire make it clear that being prepared is our best defense. As you may be[Read More…]
Burning coal seams pose wildfire risk
RBC I “These mines that are burning in Colorado have been burning for many, many years, some of them over 100 years,” said Tara Tafi, Senior Environmental Protection Specialist for Colorado Department of Natural Resources Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (DRMS). Tafi oversees the department’s mine fire program, which[Read More…]
DAYS GONE BY: January 20, 2022
The Meeker Herald 125 years ago • Large quantities of self control are necessary to keep jokes free from malice. • Scarcity of time is often pleaded as an excuse for want of inclination. The Meeker Herald 100 years ago • If all the undesirable people killed off the rest[Read More…]
Cabin Fire east of Meeker 100% contained
MEEKER I The Cabin Fire was a small fire east of Meeker on the Blanco Ranger District. The fire was determined to be the result of a ‘holdover,’ or lightning strike that smoldered and remained undetected until warm, dry weather increased fuel receptivity. It became visible and was reported on[Read More…]
Opinion: Welcome to Yosemite, the new Pyrocene Park
RBC I The Pleistocene epoch that began 2.6 million years ago sent ice in waves through Yosemite. Glaciers gouged out great valleys along the Merced and Tuolumne rivers, ice sheets rounded granite domes, cirques sculpted the High Sierra. John Muir traced virtually every landscape feature of Yosemite to its legacy[Read More…]
Proximity to gas plant increased Oil Springs fire danger
RBC | Thanks to much needed rain, the hard work of local fire protection crews, more than 300 federal firefighting personnel, and a bit of luck, the 12-thousand-plus acre Oil Springs Fire south of Rangely has calmed down considerably. But things didn’t look quite so positive last week, as exceptional[Read More…]
What do we owe wildland firefighters?
RBC | “It’s like having gasoline out there,” said Brian Steinhardt, forest fire zone manager for Prescott and Coconino national forests in Arizona, in a recent AP story about the increasingly fire-prone West. Now something else is happening — and at the worst possible time. Federal firefighters are leaving the[Read More…]
RBC enters Stage 2 restrictions Friday
RBC | High temperatures, extremely dry conditions, and wind have contributed to the growth of the lightning-caused Oil Springs Fire south of Rangely to more than 12,000 acres, prompting evacuations and multiple road closures, including the closure of Highway 139 — Douglas Pass. In response to fire activity and current[Read More…]
Heat wave, drought catalyze Stage 1 fire restrictions
RBC | Following meetings this week to gauge fire risk, the following Stage 1 Fire Restrictions went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday on BLM and county property. Forest Service will enter restrictions Thursday. STAGE 1 FIRE RESTRICTIONS ORDER Pursuant to Rio Blanco County Resolution 2019-06 the following acts are[Read More…]
Fire preparedness: are you ready?
Advance Preparation Checklist ❏ Prepare an emergency plan using the five P’s–people, pets, prescriptions, papers and priceless items should all be accounted for.❏ Assemble an emergency kit (https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/survival-kit-supplies.html)❏ Clear away all flammable vegetation from within 30 feet or more of your home. Also, clear 10 feet from propane tanks.❏ Cut[Read More…]