Glenwood Springs Fire Department officials urge residents to adhere to the Stage 1 fire restrictions in Glenwood Springs and have plans in place in the event of a wildfire.

“Make sure you avoid the possibility of ladder fuels, going from grass to shrubs to taller trees,” said Greg Bak, fire protection analyst for the Glenwood Springs Fire Department.

Bak said Stage 1 fire restrictions are meant to eliminate people building rock circles to create a wood fire.

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Only permanent, in-ground containment structures are allowed to be used for fires while under stage one restrictions.

“If they’re in a place with a good fixed in-ground facility that’s already met the criteria and isn’t under any trees, then that’s OK,” Bak said.

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“The problem with those fires is when the wind comes up it can blow the embers out of those things. With your gas fire device, wind comes up and you can shut it off. There are no embers to come off of it or to be blown off of it.”

Glenwood Springs Fire Chief Gary Tillotson said his jurisdiction is somewhat unusual compared to other fire districts in that there are not a lot of primitive campgrounds within the Glenwood Springs response area.

“I think we went up into Four Mile Park a couple of times to put out some campfires last year — not so much so far this year,” Tillotson said.

Fuel moistures in the area are particularly low for this time of year, which adds to the fire danger, Tillotson said.

The Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit monitors fuel moistures on a weekly basis by taking a piece of fuel, weighing it, then baking the moisture out before weighing it once more to calculate the fuel moisture.

“Already fuel moistures this year are very near what they were last year at this time,” Tillotson said. “And in some cases, some of the fuels have set record lows for moisture. Those samples came out of the Rifle Airport and South Canyon.”

Tillotson said the low fuel moistures are in part due to low nighttime humidities over the last couple weeks.

“So all of that lack of moisture just leads to increased volatility of willingness to burn for those fuels,” Tillotson said.

Fuels are anything from grasses to heavy timber, he added.

Reporter Shannon Marvel can be reached at 605-350-8355 or smarvel@postindependent.com.