Colorado officials said fire season is now year-round after a massive blaze hit Boulder, Colorado, over the weekend.
Brian Oliver, chief of the Wildland Fire Division, made the announcement on Monday after two major fires broke out in Boulder County over the past three months, including the current fire and the Marshall fire that destroyed over 1,000 homes in January. A third fire in Colorado happened in Denver.
“Fire season’s year-round now,” Oliver said, according to the Hill. “There’s really no season. If there’s not active precipitation or snow on the ground, as you can see, it’s March, there’s no fire season, per se, and we just had a 200-acre fire.”
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The new fire that broke out over the weekend was 35% contained on Monday and has been dubbed the NCAR fire because it’s close to the National Center for Atmospheric Research. However, the weather Monday afternoon will see heavy winds, potentially spreading the fire. No deaths have been reported so far, and no structural damage has been inflicted.
The Boulder fire department initially ordered the evacuation of 19,000 people who could be on the fire’s warpath, but they lifted the evacuation order Monday. A state park near the fire remains closed.
Marya Washburn, Boulder Fire’s spokesperson, said residents can return to their houses and daily lives, but they will need to stay off hiking trails near the blaze.
“We know that folks in the city of Boulder really like to get outside and like to go on these hikes,” Washburn said at a press conference. “If they can go to places that aren’t near the fire area, that would allow firefighters and the folks that need to work on this fire today and do the hard, good work that they’re doing.”
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California, Arizona, New Mexico, Tennessee, and New Jersey have all seen longer fire seasons in recent years. Typically, the fire season was May to October before it started expanding into the winter as the winters grow warmer, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
