Brief by Central Staff
Wildfires – July 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine
Given the combustible nature of Colorado this spring, we’ve heard a lot about “Stage I” and “Stage II” fire restrictions, and we wondered whether there was a “Stage III.”
The Colorado Division of Fire Safety lists only I and II which can be put into effect by county commissioners.
Stage I bans solid-fuel campfires outside of permanent fire grates in developed campgrounds. (Coleman stoves and the like are permissible whether in a campground or not.) Also banned is smoking, “except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site, or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable materials.”
Stage II has the same ban on smoking, and also forbids all campfires, even in developed campgrounds. Also banned is the operation of chainsaws or similar machines (like generators), welding and blasting, and driving motorized vehicles off designated roads and trails.
There isn’t an official Stage III, but Colorado Revised Statute 23-30-308 provides for an even tighter restriction: “When the governor finds that conditions of extreme fire hazard exist, he may by proclamation close such land as he may find to be in such condition of extreme hazard to the general public…”