Fire

I am not an expert on vegetation, forests, farmland, undergrowth, brush, or anything related. I say that because of what I am about to write concerning the Colorado State Forest Service and their decision several weeks ago to have controlled burns to eliminate undergrowth and vegetation in Jefferson County. According to officials a controlled burn supervised by the State Forest Service may have re-ignited some 4-5 days after being put out, which could be the cause of what we know as the Lower North Fork Fire. There's been a lot of talk about how people were notified, failures in the notification system and the deaths of 3 people. What I am struggling with is how the Colorado State Forest Service, in the midst of a long long dry spell throughout Colorado, could make the decision to have a controlled burn to begin with. It's been dry in Colorado since the end of February. Extended weather forecasts at the time of the controlled burn suggested dry and windy conditions would continue over most of the state. Yet somebody with the Colorado State Forest Service signed off on this. I'm not a big fan of controlled burns to begin with. Its like saying, "Hey let's rob this bank so when there is a real robbery the bad guys will have less money to take." And when a controlled burn takes place during a dry spell like we have had.......C'mon, really? Really? I'm no expert, however I could have told you it was a bad time for a controlled burn. There may be studies and reports that show controlled burns have slowed wildfires. I would like to see one. But isn't there a common sense element that should have entered the decision making process? Thankfully Governor Hickenlooper stepped in with a common sense idea-to suspend controlled burns until further notice. Sadly he was not consulted prior to the burn. The Colorado State Forest Service has a lot of explaining to do, especially if its proven that indeed one of their controlled burns led to the Lower North Fork Fire.