Boulder County Residents Wary Of Potential Of More Fires Following Table Mountain Fire
BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Fire after fire in Boulder County, each one hitting a little closer to home for Katelyn Clyncke.
"I got a phone call and text messages and alerts on the phone," Clyncke said. "It is pretty spooky, but I think there are some things we can do to try to prevent some of them. I mean yeah we are dry, we need moisture, but I think there are some other precautions we can take as a county."
When news of the Table Mountain fire broke on Wednesday, Clyncke rushed home to try and protect her property. She and her family were also impacted by the Marshall fire in January and the 2020 Calwood fire.
"Just with the grass down here we just turned on water to try to do anything and everything to try to keep the fire contained," she said.
While the wildfire was cleared and evacuation orders were lifted after 5 p.m., the fire did burn more than 50 acres of grassland. A neighbor in a home close to Clyncke's had to evacuate several of his horses.
He was able to bring the horses back once the fire no longer considered a threat, but told CBS4 it was a close call, saying "we need less wind and more rain."
Boulder County has dealt with several fires in the last few weeks, most causing little to no damage, but it does raise concerns for the Boulder County Sheriff's Office.
"We're just concerned that we need to make sure we continue to educate people," Vinny Montez, a spokeman with the sheriff's office said in a news conference. "When there's red flag days there's no burning whatsoever, we're coming into the hotter months so there's going to be dryer fuels and so forth."
Montez said as summer approaches the community need to be cautious.
"We just need to be safe - no longer is it out in the open areas, it gets into the urban areas kind of quickly especially when the wind is pushing," Montez said. "We're just asking everyone to be extremely careful and cognizant of their neighbors and just follow the rules as we move into summer time."
While continuous evacuations and fire danger cause worry for Clyncke, she's adamant about staying in her home.
"I would not move, we're like sixth generation down here, so this is my home," Clynche said. "We're kind of getting used to the fires as bad as it sounds. Just kind of do what you can."
