The weather is heating up and the Colorado wildfire season is officially underway as western Colorado deals with smoke-filled air.

Red Flag Warning

The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning  Tuesday for western Colorado. That means fire danger is high with songs winds, low humidity, and hot temperatures.

Western Colorado residents who have seen smoke are wondering where that smoke is coming from. Right now, that smoke is coming from various sources.

Multiple Small Fires Have Been Burning

The thunder-induced South Fork Fire is currently burning northwest of Nucla in the Horse Mesa area. Smoke is being spotted from Highway 141. Additional resources have been ordered to help suppress that fire which has burned about 15 acres so far. Over the weekend, four small fires on BLM land near Norwood were reported. Monday, three of the fires had been controlled or reported out, while crews continued to work the small Spring Creek Fire.

On Sunday, BLM Colorado Fire reported crews from UCR Interagency Fire Management and Mesa County's Wildland Crew were making progress on the Beavertail Fire in Mesa County. Crews were able to stop the forward progress of the fire at about 200 acres. Multiple engines, a helicopter, and two single-engine air tankers and air attacks were used in battling the fire. The blaze was burning in the fire scar from the 2012 Pine Ridge Fire.

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Smoke From Arizona and New Mexico Wildfires

Meanwhile, the BLM Southwest Colorado Fire and Aviation Management Unit says wildfires in Arizona and New Mexico have increased in size and some of that smoke is carrying into southwest Colorado. It certainly is not uncommon to have smoke from other states filtering into Colorado.

Right now it's looking like the summer of 2021 is going to be hot and dry and, unfortunately, we're likely to see wildfires in the news and smoke in the sky on a pretty regular basis.

 

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