There may be heavy smoke in the air. Please do not call 911 since a ditch burn is not an emergency.

Boulder County, Colo. - The Boulder County Fire Management Program will conduct irrigation ditch and agricultural burns on county open space lands this spring as conditions allow.

A training burn, including a ditch and a 2-acre field, will take place this Sunday, March 5, at Wittemyer Ponds, near the corner of Hwy. 52/Mineral Rd. and East County Line Road.

Irrigation ditches are burned to remove unwanted vegetation for improving water conveyance, nutrient cycling, and planting success. Burn dates are contingent on ideal weather conditions, including relative humidity, fuel moisture, and wind.

Boulder County Parks & Open Space irrigation ditches and agricultural properties scheduled for controlled burns this year include:

• Jim Henry (N. 115th St. and Niwot Rd.)
• Gaynor Lake (N. 107th St. and Oxford Rd.)
• Wittemyer Ponds (E. County Line Rd. and Hwy 52/Mineral Rd.)
• Leggett Ditch (E. County Line Rd. and Oxford Rd.)
• Marfell Lakes & Josephine Roche (N. 119th St. and Arapahoe Rd.)
• Marlatt / Pella Crossing (N 75th St and Hygiene Rd.)

There may be heavy smoke in the air. Please do not call 911 since a ditch burn is not an emergency. The areas will be monitored to ensure fires are completely out.

Smoke from prescribed fires may affect health. The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment Wood Smoke and Health website and the Boulder County Public Health Wildfire Air Quality & Health website provide tips on how to protect health from smoke.

For additional information, contact Boulder County Parks & Open Space Resource Specialist Nick Stremel at 303-678-6290 or nstremel@bouldercounty.org.

Agricultural Ditch Burn