BOULDER, Colo. — We're inching toward a Christmas without snow, and it has some people comparing the dry conditions to those we saw nearly three years ago — before the devastating Marshall Fire.
The fire destroyed more than a thousand homes and businesses, and killed two people.
Seth McKinney, fire management officer with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, wants to reassure people, the conditions in 2021 were "extraordinarily unique." The conditions we're seeing this year, whether it feels dry to you or not, aren't comparable.
Chief Meteorologist Lisa Hidalgo said the ground had only seen 0.33 inch of snow before the Marshall Fire. This year, we've seen 23.2 inches of snow. That moisture, Hildago said, prevents similar ground conditions from developing like those in 2021.
Some may recall, it snowed the day after the fire. That's what was bringing in those heavy winds that contributed greatly to the fire and the spread of it, Hidalgo said.
McKinney said it's rare to associate snow with wildfires, but the Marshall Fire wasn't the first.
"Fire that impacted the Urban Corridor... we see it in California quite often, but being that it was the first time for Colorado, for us, that was definitely a shock to everybody here," McKinney said.
It was a wake-up call that McKinney said made his team better prepared today. He said they learned a lot and changed their response plans.
"We've implemented some new programs across the county, as far as our alert and warning both in our messaging to the community, and also in wildfire detection," McKinney said. "So we have a couple of wildfire detection cameras systems installed. We have a revamped and it's, you know, still got a little bit more work, but revamped open burn system to provide more transparency."
The sheriff's office had plans this week for a prescribed burn, but called it off due to weather conditions.
McKinney said they understand that has some in the area worried, but he and his team want the community to know they are making informed decisions and will use the best messaging they can to get information out to the public.