Fire crews west of Fort Collins are battling gusty winds today as they attempt to contain the 3,200 acre Crystal wildfire. It doesn’t help that the Front Range is under a Red Flag warning until 8 o’clock tonight.
“What that means is that we’re expecting strong gusty winds and low humidity, winds this afternoon will be gusting up to about 60 mph in the foothills and up to about 40 mph in Fort Collins,” says National Weather Service meteorologist Chad Gimmestad.
The winds have grounded helicopters that were supporting ground crews this morning. But the wind is expected to die down tonight.
"And it will be cooler more moisture with light winds tomorrow. And it looks like we won’t have any really windy periods for several days at least,” says Gimmestad.
Meantime, the Board of Larimer County Commissioners adopted fire restrictions on open fires and fireworks effective immediately. Those restrictions run through May 5.
