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Governor addresses explosion of wildfires near Vail, across Colorado

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June 12, 2018, 6:21 pm

Wildfires are burning just to the west of Vail and now just to the east after an approximately 100-acre fire erupted on the flanks of Buffalo Mountain just above Silverthorne on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of nearly 1,400 homes

Gov. John Hickenlooper

Gov. John Hickenlooper

The 415-acre Bocco fire near Wolcott forced evacuations on Sunday, but that fire has been largely contained and residents allowed home. Two smaller fires — one in Avon and one in East Vail — were quickly exstinguished on Monday.

An unusually dry winter, high temperatures and winds have led to the outbreak of recent fires, and Eagle County officials on Tuesday instituted a “Stage 1” fire ban prohibiting open burning on all private land in the county. Click here for more fire ban information.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday issued a statement on Tuesday regarding the impact of the fires burning throughout Colorado, singling out the new Buffalo Mountain fire in Summit County.

The governor added that state agencies “are fully engaged in providing support for managing the other fires as well, including the 416 Fire near Durango, the Burro Fire in Montezuma County, the Bocco Fire in Eagle County, and the Emery Gap Fire in Las Animas County.”

Hickenlooper said the state is already spending a lot of money on the current wildfires and expects to spend even during what forecasters predict will be a very busy wildfire season.

“Colorado has allocated more resources for fire fighting than any other state in the Rocky Mountain West,” Hickenlooper said. “We have seven interagency heavy air tankers fighting the Colorado fires and, through experience, we have learned how to integrate our state resources with our federal, county and municipal resources.

“We recognize the conditions are dry and hot. Public health and safety are the top priorities in fighting any fire. If you are in the fire zones, please follow safety procedures and directives. Our state agencies are here to support you. As we have proved time and time again, Coloradans are resilient.”

 

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David O. Williams

Managing Editor at RealVail
David O. Williams is the editor and co-founder of RealVail.com and has had his awarding-winning work (see About Us) published in more than 75 newspapers and magazines around the world, including 5280 Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines), the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), the Anchorage Daily Press (Alaska), Aspen Daily News, Aspen Journalism, the Aspen Times, Beaver Creek Magazine, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Casper Star Tribune (Wyoming), the Chicago Tribune, Colorado Central Magazine, the Colorado Independent (formerly Colorado Confidential), Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics (formerly the Colorado Statesman), Colorado Public News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Statesman (now Colorado Politics), the Colorado Times Recorder, the Cortez Journal, the Craig Daily Press, the Curry Coastal Pilot (Oregon), the Daily Trail (Vail), the Del Norte Triplicate (California), the Denver Daily News, the Denver Gazette, the Denver Post, the Durango Herald, the Eagle Valley Enterprise, the Eastside Journal (Bellevue, Washington), ESPN.com, Explore Big Sky (Mont.), the Fort Morgan Times (Colorado), the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Greeley Tribune, the Huffington Post, the King County Journal (Seattle, Washington), the Kingman Daily Miner (Arizona), KUNC.org (northern Colorado), LA Weekly, the Las Vegas Sun, the Leadville Herald-Democrat, the London Daily Mirror, the Moab Times Independent (Utah), the Montgomery Journal (Maryland), the Montrose Daily Press, The New York Times, the Parent’s Handbook, Peaks Magazine (now Epic Life), People Magazine, Powder Magazine, the Pueblo Chieftain, PT Magazine, the Rio Blanco Herald Times (Colorado), Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine, the Rocky Mountain News, RouteFifty.com (formerly Government Executive State and Local), the Salt Lake Tribune, SKI Magazine, Ski Area Management, SKIING Magazine, the Sky-Hi News, the Steamboat Pilot & Today, the Sterling Journal Advocate (Colorado), the Summit Daily News, United Hemispheres (United Airlines), Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine, Vail en Español, Vail Health Magazine, Vail Valley Magazine, the Vail Daily, the Vail Trail, Westword (Denver), Writers on the Range and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Williams is also the founder, publisher and editor of RealVail.com and RockyMountainPost.com.

One Response to Governor addresses explosion of wildfires near Vail, across Colorado

  1. richard charles

    June 14, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    GEE Calming words from those sitting in offices planning which corporations /companies will get fire fighting contracts– eventually. Really makes the ones smelling smoke and seeing glowing night skies feel so much safer while being told to go elsewhere for temporary shelter. Oh , I know– just shut up and pay my exorbitant taxes.