Sheriff Pelle Orders Fire Ban on Sept. 22

For Immediate Release
September 22, 2015

Media Contact: Carrie Haverfield, Boulder County Sheriff's Office, 303-441-1500

Fire ban enacted for western Boulder County

Boulder County, Colo. -- On Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, Sheriff Joe Pelle enacted a fire ban for the mountain area of Boulder County. The mountain area includes all unincorporated areas west of
Highway 93, Broadway Avenue and Highway 36 (North and South Foothills Highways and Broadway
Avenue in the City of Boulder) including Rabbit Mountain Open Space and west of Rabbit Mountain Open Space to Highway 36.

The fire ban prohibits:

• Slash fires
• The use of any kind of fireworks or model rockets
• All other outdoor spark or flame producing activities
• All outdoor burning not listed below as allowable

This fire ban allows for:

• Indoor fires in fireplaces or stoves
• Smoking indoors or within an enclosed vehicle
• Campfires in improved and maintained campgrounds that are currently open to the
  public, as long as the fuel for such fires are smaller than two feet in diameter by three
  feet in height.
• Liquid or gas fuel stove use
• Charcoal grill use on private land
• Smoking outdoors in areas free of flammable material
• Fires contained within maintained fire pits or grates on private land

The fire ban will be in effect until the sheriff finds that the hazardous conditions have subsided. The fire ban does not affect open fires within incorporated cities and towns, however residents must
comply with applicable ordinances and regulations in the respective cities and towns.

Anyone found in violation of the fire ban may be convicted of a class 2 petty offense and may be
subject to a $500 fine, in addition to any possible civil penalties. Higher fines may be imposed for
subsequent offenses.

State statutes authorize counties to impose a fire ban “to a degree and in a manner that the board of
county commissioners deems necessary to reduce the danger of wildfires within those portions of
the unincorporated areas of the county where the danger of forest or grass fires is found to be high
based on competent evidence.”

For current fire and shooting restrictions for United States Forest Service properties:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/arp/alerts-notices

For current fire restrictions in Eldorado Canyon State Park:
http://www.parks.state.co.us/Parks/eldoradocanyon/Pages/EldoradoCanyonHome.aspx

This media release may be found on the Boulder County Sheriff's Office website:
http://www.bouldersheriff.org

www.bouldersheriff.org

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