Tag: high park fire

Gov. John Hickenlooper lifted a statewide fire ban Sunday, saying recent rainfall and milder weather have brought relief to all 64 Colorado counties but he noted local fire restrictions may still be in effect.

ASPEN -- Public policy and political will must shift as dramatically as the winds that have whipped Colorado’s record wildfires, experts say, or the state’s residents will continue to pay a higher and higher price for forests that are dying due to global climate change.

As partisan bickering grew heated Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., under pressure from his Republican colleagues, changed his vote on a fire-prevention measure at the last minute.

It didn't take long for the High Park Fire to become politicized.

Set by a Saturday lightning strike, according to the Larimer County sheriff's office, the High Park Fire burning west of Fort Collins in Colorado has burned more than 43,000 acres and taken one life. It's already one of the worst fires in Colorado history and, fueled by the dry conditions and tinderbox beetle-kill forests that have become the norm here, it is a harbinger of fires to come.