COLORADO SPRINGS — Add hot days to the up and down cycle of wildfire danger in Southern Colorado this year. Areas of near record heat, dry out vegetation and push-up fire danger.
"The grasses are the easiest and quickest way to tell, how's it going for us? Really, a month ago our grasses were getting kind of green, now as you start driving around those grasses are turning brown,” said Captain Mike Smaldino with the Colorado Springs Fire Department.
Fire dangers gone through some noticeable swings since April when conditions were drier than normal. Then in May an unusually late snow storm lowered fire danger. Through most of July it has been hard to know the fire danger because of the monsoon cycle with hot dry mornings followed by short rain showers in the afternoon.
The rain helps, but it can be spotty. 'Basically what we've gotten is a band-aid,” said News 5 Meteorologist Sam Schreier.
"The rain that we're getting, it didn't solve our problems,” said Smaldino, “We’re still in fire restrictions in the City of Colorado Springs because our fuel moistures haven't come up the way we needed them to."
The concern is it's extra hot, and the afternoon rain often goes away heading into August. 'Basically what we've gotten is a band-aid,” said Schreier.
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