Boone County fire officials said wildfire conditions in Colorado are very different than those in Missouri.
Colorado vegetation is much drier than the growth found in mid-Missouri. Colorado also has more open areas with prairies that allow fires to spread quickly.
Dry weather and insects have killed many Colorado pine trees, which burn quicker than Missouri’s trees, while Missouri has more natural barriers to stop the spread of wildfires.
Boone County Fire District Lt. Martina Pounds said, “Eventually, they will be contained by either roads and we do have a lot of water here, too. They’ll be contained by creeks and things like that. In Colorado, they don’t have those types of geographic barriers that we do.”
Pounds said Missouri is more prone to big grass fires instead of large wildfires.
Pounds said, “Just because we can’t have big wildfires like Colorado, it doesn’t mean we can’t have a big grass fire. Big grass fires can still take over very quickly. They can take over a house, garages, outbuildings and those kinds of things very quickly. We don’t want anyone losing their house because they weren’t careful.”
The same fire prevention methods apply in both locations.
Fire officials said people need to be more careful when disposing of cigarettes and fireworks during dry conditions.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKRCG