DENVER – Gov. Polis and representatives from multiple fire agencies will outline the state’s fire danger for 2019 in a news conference Tuesday morning.
It’s scheduled to start at 11 a.m. and will outline the wildfire potential as well as the level of state preparedness.
The forecast is likely to be much improved from 2018, which was one of the worst wildfire seasons in state history.
In southern Colorado alone, tens of thousands of acres were burned from the Spring Fire, 117 Fire, Carson-Midway Fire, Weston Pass Fire as well as the HIgh Chateau Fire in Teller County. In other parts of the state, the 416 Fire near Durango and the Lake Christine Fire near Basalt were also very destructive.
Much of the state was suffering from extreme and exceptional drought last year, creating very dangerous conditions in the early spring and throughout the summer.
In 2019, conditions should be much better. Heavy snows in the spring almost completely eliminated drought in the southwest and central parts of the state.
At this time, just 1% of the state is considered to be in drought and 15% is considered abnormally dry.
