Prescribed burns planned on City of Boulder properties for 2022

Where there's smoke, there's fire, but that's not always a bad thing.

In the case of prescribed burns, fire is often used as a land management tool to help maintain agricultural properties, including ditches that provide water for open space farming and ranching operations. Prescribed burns are also used to help control plant growth and invasive weed species.

After the recent Marshall Fire and the NCAR Fire, it's understandable for residents to be concerned when they see smoke - even if that smoke is from a prescribed burn.

But unlike wildfires whose ignition can't be predicted and which often spread rapidly due to conditions such as high winds and dry, overgrown vegetation, prescribed burns are conducted only when weather and vegetation conditions are acceptable to assure the safety of the public and minimize the potential impacts of smoke.

All ditch burns, slash pile burns, and prescribed fires are implemented by the Boulder County Sheriff's Office Fire Management program with assistance from the City of Boulder Parks and Open Space (OSMP). Currently, OSMP has several agricultural-related prescribed burns as well as prescribed burns on open space planned for 2022.

As part of the process of determining when to conduct a prescribed burn, the Fire Management program sets a plan with certain conditions that must be met.

"We basically write a burn plan, which is a contract to implement the plan, and it identifies the parameters we can operate in, said Seth McKinney, Fire Management Officer with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office. "Of course, the environmental parameters that we look at daily, we want the most favorable conditions."

Part of the planning process utilizes software programs that help determine how fast a fire will burn with certain variables such as temperature and wind speeds. McKinney said that this modeling allows them to compare the general effectiveness of the burn plan and assess the resources needed on site to ensure a safe and successful burn - even if the worst conditions within the plan's given parameters were to develop.

"The challenge of writing our burn plans is we don't want to write it too narrow so that we can't actually implement anything, but we don't want to write them too loosely so that we're burning in unfavorable conditions or pushing the limits of what we manage," said McKinney.

Additionally, resources are set up on the ground to conduct and control the burn. This can include preemptively putting in a control line, doing hose lays, and ensuring adequate people and resources are on site the day of the burn to control the fire - even if the weather does not cooperate exactly as planned.

"In prescribed fire, we've got time on our side compared to wildfire where we're usually playing catch-up to gain control," said McKinney. "Ideally, in a prescribed fire, we want to have everything in place to maintain control."

All burning on City of Boulder property is supervised and monitored by Boulder Fire-Rescue. Per OSMP, all burn areas will be monitored to ensure fires are completely out.

"We have a really sound system," McKinney said. "Our biggest challenges are the unexpected variabilities in Colorado weather. As long as we follow our burn plan, our contract to the public, then we are operating in a safe environment. And any time we're out of those parameters, that fire is not an option."

According to McKinney, using fire to remove vegetation is a less time and cost-intensive method compared to other methods of vegetation removal such as using machines to mow grass or log timber.

"Not to say that there isn't a cost to doing prescribed fire, but depending on how well we can implement it, that cost per acre is usually much lower than the cost per acre versus mechanical treatment," he said.

In light of recent wildfire events, McKinney said it's understandable that residents might be concerned at the sight of smoke.

In most cases, if you see smoke, he recommends calling Boulder County Dispatch at (303) 441-4444 and asking if there is a prescribed burn happening at the general address. All county-administered prescribed burns, as well as open burns and other agricultural burns, should be on file with the dispatch center which can then mobilize the fire department if needed.

McKinney said his job has become more challenging as the state has faced larger and more devastating fires. He sees educating the public about prescribed burns as one way to help support the Fire Management office's long-term goals.

"We need the public's support. As a fire management officer, fire chief, or land agency administrator, fire is a great tool, but things are getting more challenging," said McKinney. "Ultimately, the goal is to continue considering fire as a land management tool, but to do so in the right and safe conditions."