Hickenlooper Rescinds Fire Bans, Flooding in Some Parts of the State
Jul 9th @ 8:17 am in News by Scott Staley
With rain blanketing the state and most of the wildfires contained, Governor John Hickenlooper rescinded the statewide fire ban yesterday. Firefighters are still working on the Little Sand fire burning near Pagosa Springs. The fire hasn’t grown in recent days due to daily rainstorms, but is around 25,000 acres. 55% is contained, but since the fire is burning in difficult terrain and is not threatening any structures, fire crews are letting the fire run its natural course. Even though the fires have been contained, there is a new danger for Colorado residents. Several areas in the state were under flash flood watches this weekend as rainstorms associated with the summer monsoon dumped two to three inches of rain. The flood danger is especially high in the burn areas, because the soil cannot absorb the water from a rain storm. I-70 was blocked for a couple hours on Saturday near Rifle due to a mudslide. A lane of I-70 is also blocked this morning due to a fallen boulder near the Hanging Lake Tunnel in Glenwood Canyon. The Colorado State Patrol is on scene. The weather also caused a minor flood in Grand Junction this weekend. The heavy rain filled the Grand Valley Canal and flooded several properties.






