Five things you need to know about wildfires in Northern Colorado.
Aria Marizza | Colorado State University Journalism
Over the past few years residents in Larimer County have seen an increase in amount and severity of wildfires. As wildfires continue to spread in Northern Colorado, here’s five things every local resident should know.
1. How to stay informed and prepared for a wildfire and the possibility of evacuation.
First and foremost, having access to up-to-date information about wildfires in the area and the spread of them should be something every person living near the mountains or foothills in Northern Colorado should do.
NOCO Alert is a service that informs residents in the Larimer County area when a life threatening event is happening near you. Signing up for text alerts, app alerts, or information via social media is simple, and could make a substantial difference when wildfires start and spread.
Regarding residents homes, The First Street Foundation also has an online tool that allows for homeowners to see how at-risk their property is for fire damages resulting from wildfires.
2. Rising temperatures and droughts have substantial effects on the severity and amount of wildfires that occur.
Dating back a few decades, Colorado has experienced a handful of significant dry periods, followed by severe drought years most recently in 2018 and 2020. Due to a lack of precipitation in heavily wooded areas, grasses and trees have a tendency to dry out and become flammable. This allows for a rapid spread of wildfires that tend to become more severe than wildfires occurring in years with more precipitation.
Another climate factor that seems to be working alongside droughts is the slow rise in temperature Colorado has endured, four degrees since 1990. This climb in temperature not only has an impact on the severity of droughts, but the increased heat itself aids in drying out vegetation even further.
3. Following Larimer County fire restrictions and bans can make a real difference in stopping accidental fires from starting.
In the summer season with little rainfall and much higher temperatures, Larimer County has restrictions put in place when visiting the mountain and foothill areas in order to prevent accidental fires from starting, which can easily break out into a full-blown wildfire.
Some of the regulations Larimer County typically sets in place include, but are not limited to, open flames, smoking cigarettes, fireworks, and welding.
4. Even though wildfires are nerve-racking and scary, they can actually be beneficial to the land it affects.
Surprisingly enough, wildfires actually play a critical role in maintaining many ecosystems in Colorado. Lower-intensity fires help remove unwanted brush and debris that suffocates the ground, opens the soil up to sunlight, and allows vegetation the ability to grow larger and stronger.
In Colorado, issues with invasive species and local species such as emerald ash borers, gypsy moths, and bark beetles can wreak havoc on our trees. Low-intensity fires can help eradicate harmful species on a population of trees and help them become healthier and stronger.
5. In the future, wildfires are looking to spread and become prominent not only in the mountains, but residential areas as well.
The future of wildfires in Colorado unfortunately doesn’t look like they’ll stay contained in the wooded mountains, but has a real chance of spreading to residental areas around the foothills. Colorado right now is ranked 7th in the nation for future wildfire threats towards residential and business areas, and Larimer is on the list of counties that will most likely be affected.
In the past there has been a tunnel-vision focus on wildfires with long burns in the mountains that create huge smoke clouds and ash rain that occurs for days on end. It’s predicted that these types of wildfires will no longer be as big of a concern, and large, single-day fires in more populated residential areas will become more common and more detrimental.
