FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Photo Courtesy of Claire Luque
June 24, 2021
GRAND COUNTY MOVES TO STAGE 2 FIRE RESTRICTIONS
GRAND COUNTY, CO – The Grand County Board of County Commissioners voted to enact Stage 2 Fire Restrictions during a special meeting on Thursday, June 24, 2021, that will go into effect Friday, June 25 at 6:00 a.m. The Sheriff’s Office, in cooperation with our local Fire Districts, and Federal Partners, consistently monitor fire conditions and the necessity of fire restrictions on a regular basis. The decisions surrounding fire restrictions are based on a scientific fire restriction matrix that is used across northwest Colorado. Upon reviewing the latest scientific data, Sheriff Schroetlin recommended, and Commissioners approved, the implementation of Stage 2 fire restrictions for Grand County.
The Commissioners’ decision is a collaborative effort between local Fire Districts, the Bureau of Land Management’s Kremmling Field Office, the Sulphur Ranger District of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. All of Grand County’s federal partners will also enter Stage 2 Fire Restrictions Friday morning. Under Grand County Stage 2 Restrictions, all fires are prohibited on public and private lands, as well as at campgrounds.
The following activities and uses are also prohibited under Stage 2 Fire Restrictions:
• Building, maintaining, attending, or using an open fire (including charcoal grills), either in a campground or at a private residence. No outdoor fires unless it is gas and can be turned off.
• The possession, use and sale of permissible fireworks. Only permitted, professional fireworks displays are allowed. It is the decision of the local jurisdiction to host a fireworks display.
• Welding or operating torches with an open flame.
• The use of incendiary devices such as explosives, exploding or tracer ammunition, exploding targets, or rockets.
• Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building. Dispose of smoking materials in places where they cannot be a source of ignition. Never throw them from car windows.
• Operating a chainsaw without an USDA or SAE approved spark-arresting device properly installed and in working order.
The following activities and uses are allowed under Stage 2 Fire Restrictions:
• Permissible fireworks according to state statute. The permitted, professional fireworks displays in Grand County are allowed.
• Liquid or Gas-fueled Devices: heating devices, stoves, grills, lanterns, fire pits, fireplaces or fire tables that include shut-off valves are permitted when used in an area at least three or more from flammable materials such as grasses or pine needles.
• Fires Contained Inside Permanent Structures: Any fire contained within a fireplace, stove, wood burning stove, or pellet stove designed for and located within a fully enclosed permanent structure.
Help us prevent more wildfires and become a steward of these places we all must care for by checking the official source.
• Grand County Wildfire Council at https://bewildfireready.org
• Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/arp/knowbefore
• Medicine Bow - Routt National Forests at www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mbr/fire/?cid=FSEPRD889210
• Bureau of Land Management Northwest District www.blm.gov/programs/public-safety-and-fire/fire-and-aviation/regional-information/colorado/northwest-district
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