Fire ban in Colorado lifted?

[Senior Space Cadet]

It looks like the fire ban has been lifted for Colorado.
Local restrictions may still apply.
No restrictions for my county.
Next calm day, I might try launching some rockets and see if I get arrested.

 

[tim cubbedge]

Next calm day, I might try launching some rockets and see if I get arrested.

why not just call your local/city/county fire marshal/chief?

 

[Senior Space Cadet]

why not just call your local/city/county fire marshal/chief?

I looked up the number for parks and rec in the city I launch at.
He may refer me to the fire marshal or he may say go ahead and launch.
I'm not sure which fire marshal has ultimate authority in this situation. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with bureaucracies.

 

[tim cubbedge]

How many fire marshals do you have? Here in Florida burn bans are enacted by county. It's better to be on the safe side rather than start a fire and give our hobby a bad name.
Don't know where you live but this might help.
https://www.coemergency.com/p/fire-bans-danger.html

 

[Senior Space Cadet]

I just talked to someone at parks and rec and he says that they aren't allowing anything that leaves the ground.
That means no drones, rockets, RC planes, etc.
I'm waiting for a call back from the director.
The other option, probably the only other option, is Pawnee National Grasslands. A much longer drive.
I'll have to contact someone about that.
No, I don't want to give us a bad name, nor do I really want to risk going to jail, although I've never been in jail, so it would be something new to experience.
Pretty frustrating. I've built, at least, a dozen rockets and I've just spent hundreds of dollars on shop equipment and I'm still not sure if there is much of a future for model rockets around here.

 

[Senior Space Cadet]

Well I just visited NCR's website and it says the fire ban has been lifted, but they still aren't launching because conditions are still very dry at the National Grasslands and, of course, Covid.
Well, I'll spend some time, this winter, building some awesome rockets and, hopefully, launch them in the spring. I don't have much else to do anyway.
A while back, I did a search for dry lake beds in Colorado. I did find one, but it was a several hours drive away. It would have to be an extremely long day or an overnight affair.
There are places outside of Grand Junction that I could probably launch, but that too is about a five hour drive.

 

[samb]

In Texas burn bans vary by county. So I’ll assume your county is not under a burn ban. Now you just need to deal with the land owner of your prospective launch site. For a city park that’s the taxpayers but of course we know it’s really the Parks&Rec commissars. The eternal question is, ‘Do I ask permission before or beg forgiveness after? ‘

 

[Senior Space Cadet]

Yeah, my county has no current fire ban.
Now it seems to be a different issue. Someone might have complained.
The city we were launching at is about ten miles up the road from my city.
I'm considering writing Parks and Rec in my town, where I'm a tax payer, and lay out my argument.
All we need a specific place and time that we can launch. Even if it's only once a month.
If I lived on the west slope there'd be no problem. Lots of BLM land in western Colorado and Utah.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Score is lauching tomorrow. 9 am.

 

[Senior Space Cadet]

Score is lauching tomorrow. 9 am.

Where is score out of and what is there launch site?
See next post.

 

[Senior Space Cadet]

I talked to the director of parks and rec in Longmont.
Apparently the person that was organizing the launches got a permit through the fire marshal but there was an existing ban from Parks and Rec that had nothing to do with fire danger.
But the director says he will honor the permit, till it runs, out and they are going to work on finding another place to launch.
But we can only launch if the permit holder is there.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Southern Colorado rocketry. They have a website. Launch from Hudson Ranch SW of Pueblo. First class operation!

 

[Daddyisabar]

Just got an email. LONGMONT rocket club launching at Sandstone Ranch!

 

[Senior Space Cadet]

Just got an email. LONGMONT rocket club launching at Sandstone Ranch!

Yep. That's the one.
I talked to the permit holder and he called the Parks and Rec director too, to confirm my info.

 

[CoAz2k]

Pretty frustrating. I've built, at least, a dozen rockets and I've just spent hundreds of dollars on shop equipment and I'm still not sure if there is much of a future for model rockets around here.

It is frustrating, but the Colorado fire bans have gone up at some point ever year since I've become BAR.

SCORE is launching today as someone else posted above.

I bet most rocketeers have a COVID fleet they have built this year. I have at least six in my COVID fleet as of today. I'm picking the next one to build now...

Spring is the most opportune time to fly with Northern Colorado Rocketry (NCR) at their north site (Pawnee National Grasslands). I highly encourage you to only fly at Pawnee with NCR. I understand the forest service (which manages Pawnee) does not authorize rocket activities outside of NCR scheduled launch events. Please don't jeopardize the best rocket launch site in the area.

SCORE (Pueblo) has concrete and gravel in the launch area which enable them to fly when others cannot. They can get shut down too, which did happen in September and October when they had to cancel launches due to the fire risk. I believe SCORE was the only club in July/August flying this past year. With safety measures for COVID.

It is normal here in Colorado for rocket activities to slow down with the fire risk. There is a future for the hobby in Colorado as long as nobody does what you suggest in your first post:

I might try launching some rockets and see if I get arrested.

Maybe you won't get arrested, maybe you'll just have to pay the cost of fighting the fire. And face the ire of your fellow hobbyists who have fewer places to launch, maybe permanently.

Check your county sheriff's or local fire department's website for fire restrictions. My local fire department (El Paso county, CO) has a website that shows the county is under Level 1 restrictions. Which means model rockets are allowed.

Fly with your local club. Fly low power where it is safe and when allowed.

 

[Colorado John]

Just got an email. LONGMONT rocket club launching at Sandstone Ranch!

Could you please give me the email for the Longmont rocket club? Do you have a link for their website? I live close by and would like to join them. I didn't know about them until I saw this thread. Thanks!!!