Steve Mundinger
At this moment, a handful of wildfires are already burning in Colorado at an early stage of summer 2021. It’s hard to overlook the haze in the air, and the dry, brittle look of the vegetation up and down the Roaring Fork Valley.
Welcome rains over the weekend and earlier this week helped to slow down the Sylvan Fire, which had previously threatened the upper Frying Pan Valley, and it appears firefighters have gained the edge there.
However, among the seven wildfires burning across the state’s Western Slope, only two have been fully contained and more than 20,000 acres have already been torched. So, while we should all celebrate the respite provided by the recent rains, it will still take a conscious, collective effort to ensure summer 2021 isn’t defined by smoke-filled skies and a nagging sense of agitation and dread.