Douglas County bans open burning as winds raise wildfire risk

Residents in unincorporated Douglas County could not burn Sunday as sustained winds of 21 to 23 mph and gusts reaching 38 mph pushed fire danger sharply higher. Douglas County Emergency Management prohibited open burning and warned that any fire could spread rapidly in the windy conditions.

The county told residents to call 911 immediately if they saw smoke or flames. The restriction covered open burning, open fires and fireworks under Douglas County’s Ordinance No. O-012-004, which applies in unincorporated parts of the county. County notices say a violation is a Class-2 petty offense punishable by up to a $1,000 fine plus a surcharge.

The ban came as the National Weather Service office in Denver/Boulder had active Red Flag Warnings across the region, underscoring the fire-weather threat along the Front Range. Douglas County says red flag conditions combine warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds, creating a fast-moving wildfire risk that can overwhelm response times.

Douglas County Office of Emergency Management says it monitors emergency conditions in unincorporated Douglas County and ties fire-restriction decisions to the sheriff’s office and emergency-management criteria. That framework has become a central part of the county’s wildfire response as officials try to keep small ignition sources from becoming larger incidents on dry, windy days.

The county’s planning record shows how deeply wildfire risk is built into local operations. Douglas County completed its Community Wildfire Protection Plan in December 2011 with help from the Office of Emergency Management, wildfire mitigation staff, the Colorado State Forest Service, local fire protection districts and the United States Forest Service. The county is also updating its hazard mitigation plan in 2026, and wildfire remains one of the primary hazards under review.

Douglas County’s Wildfire Action Collaborative brings together elected leaders, fire experts, foresters, emergency managers and private stakeholders. Its wildfire mitigation cost-share program is meant to help residents and communities reduce risk on private land, and county reporting says the program funded 84 projects across 750 acres in 2023. That work is part of the same public-safety effort behind Sunday’s burning ban: keep heat, spark and wind from lining up on the same day.