Fire restrictions expand across Dolores County amid dry, windy conditions

Unincorporated Dolores County was placed under Stage 1 fire restrictions effective May 27 at 12:00 a.m., adding new limits for ranch crews, campers, road workers and travelers moving through the county’s open country. The Dolores County Board of County Commissioners enacted the county measure as the region moved into a late-May fire clampdown that also covered unincorporated Montezuma County, the Town of Dolores, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and nearby federal lands.

The practical effect is immediate: no open burning where it is banned, no casual campfires outside approved sites, and extra caution around welding, grinding, chainsaws and vehicles parked in tall grass. The Town of Dolores was under a burn ban effective May 28 at 6:00 a.m., while unincorporated Montezuma County was under a fire ban at the same hour. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe had Stage 1 restrictions effective May 22, and the San Juan National Forest had already put Stage 1 restrictions in place on May 22 in lower elevations because those areas are more vulnerable to wildfire from rapid vegetation curing and dry surface fuels.

That is why Dolores County showed up on Montezuma County’s fire restrictions page. The page was organized by jurisdiction, not by county line alone, and it listed unincorporated Dolores County, unincorporated Montezuma County, the Town of Dolores, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the San Juan National Forest and, later, the Bureau of Land Management Tres Rios Field Office. For people near Dove Creek, Rico, Stoner and other outlying areas, the key question is not just where the road ends, but whether the work site or campsite sits on county land, federal land, tribal land or inside a town boundary.

Each order is enforced by the agency that issued it, and violations can carry real consequences. The San Juan National Forest said violations could be ticketed, and a 2025 forest release said the minimum fine for violating Stage I campfire restrictions in Colorado was $530. The BLM Tres Rios Field Office said Stage 1 restrictions would begin May 29 at 12:01 a.m. on BLM-administered public lands in Archuleta, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Montezuma, San Juan and San Miguel counties, along with Canyon of the Ancients National Monument.

The Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management says Red Flag Warnings create automatic fire restrictions in many counties, and the National Weather Service had issued Red Flag Warning products for the region in late May. The Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office said its wildfire-information page was being updated for the public, and the San Juan National Forest fire-information line remained available at (970) 403-5212 as dry, windy weather kept weekend plans under a tighter watch.