Posted: Monday, August 1, 2005 12:00 am
LARAMIE (AP) - Above-average rain this spring helped relieve drought across much of Wyoming, but the rain-fed foliage is turning into fuel for what could yet be a bad fire season.
"I haven't seen fuels like these in five years," Laramie Fire Chief Randy Vickers said.
"It is a disaster waiting to happen - but we're struggling to share that fear," Vickers said. "People think, 'Green grass, no fire danger.' That's not the case."
Albany County commissioners on Tuesday plan to consider whether to impose a partial fire ban for the first time since 2003. Sheridan County already has imposed fire restrictions, and the U.S. Forest Service is considering restrictions in Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.
And that's not where the greatest danger lies.
"We're faring considerably better than most of the state with respect to dry conditions," state climatologist Jan Curtis said. "The greatest fire threat will actually be in the Black Hills and the northeast corner of the state."
Curtis said conditions could get worse. Forecasts call for "slightly above normal" temperatures in August, although Curtis said experts weren't predicting a lot of dry lighting, a major cause of wildfires.
Vickers said the fire danger would remain high until the first snowfall. In the meantime, the Forest Service recommends that people remove dead trees, tall grass and other things that could burn from around their homes.
On the Net:
U.S. Forest Service brochure on reducing fire danger:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/publications/documents/livingwithfire.pdf
Information from: Laramie Daily Boomerang, http://www.laramieboomerang.com