This month’s meeting of the RCVFD Board is at 6 pm Wednesday, July 20, at Fire Station 1, 11835 Rist Canyon Road. All Rist Canyon area residents are welcome to attend. If you would like a copy of the agenda before the meeting, please email your name, email address, and phone number no later than July 16 to the RCVFD Board Secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please note that the agenda will arrive 1-2 days before the scheduled meeting.

LARIMER COUNTY FIRE RESTRICTIONS

On recommendation by the Larimer County Sheriff, the Board of Larimer County Commissioners yesterday voted 3-0 to adopt fire restrictions in unincorporated Larimer County since the danger of wildfire, forest and grass fires are great due to above-normal temperatures, lightning strikes and windy, dry conditions.

As of noon, June 29, 2022, restrictions on open fires for the unincorporated portions of Larimer County go into effect. These restrictions stay in effect until noon, July 29, 2022. Also in effect are restrictions on the use of fireworks, combustible devices, public firework displays and incendiary devices. This is not a fire ban.

Restricted starting today:

• Open fires, including camp or cooking fires
  
• Smoking in the open is not allowed, including on trails, parks, and open spaces.
  
• Fireworks or firework displays.
  
• Incendiary devices including sky lanterns, exploding ammunition, exploding targets, and tracer ammunition.
  
• Welding

Not Restricted:

• Contained open fires in permanently constructed stationary masonry or metal fireplaces specifically designed for the purpose of combustion.
  
• Gas or Liquid Fueled Fires fueled by bottled gas or pressurized liquid shall include but are not limited to portable heaters, cooking stoves, heating stoves, hiking/camping stoves, grills, fire pits, fireplaces, etc.
  
• The use of an internal or external combustion engine with a spark arresting device properly installed, maintained, and in effective working order and meeting published standards.
  
• Fireplaces or wood stoves located inside permanent structures.
  
• Fires in commercially operated wood and/or charcoal-fired grills designed for cooking.
  
• Charcoal-fired grills when used at a private residence and location on a non-combustible surface of at least ten feet in diameter.
  
• Welding and other torch work within an enclosed building.
  
• Outdoor welding and other torch work provided that:
  
  • The area where the welding or other torch work is to be performed is free of vegetation for at least thirty feet in all directions.
    
  • Wind speed is less than 10 mph.
    
  • There is sufficient fire suppressant immediately available to suppress any fire that may be started.
    
• Fires in air curtain burners.
  
• Public firework display approved by the appropriate Fire Department or Fire District.

The Sheriff may give limited exemptions from these restrictions based on his pre-approval and inspection.

Any person who knowingly violates the restrictions can be fined. The Ordinance for the Regulation of Open Burning in Unincorporated Larimer County can be found by clicking here (PDF). The full text of the Larimer County notice can be read here.

The Rist Canyon Mountain Festival "Book Bees" will be moving approximately 150 banana boxes of books on Friday, June 24th, at 2:00PM. We ask anyone who can come help to please do so. I have 2 10' X 5' trailers and if you have a trailer, please let us know.

We will meet at 3231 Shallow Pond Drive. This is off of Ziegler south of Harmony.

We appreciate any and all help.

Thank you,

Carolyn Stanley
970-221-2024

Stephen Decatur of the Office of Emergency Management has delivered 100 pallets of sandbags to the area near the Moody Hill intersection in Buckhorn Canyon. These sandbags are for residents of Buckhorn and Stove Prairie areas to use for erosion control and runoff management however they see fit, as the increase in moisture later in the summer is likely to cause issues with burned-over areas.

Thanks go to Erica Michel, our Upper Buckhorn Representative, for helping to coordinate these sandbags from the county. If the sandbags run out or start to run low, contact me or Erica at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can help facilitate a refresh.

Jeff Elsner, Chief
Rist Canyon Volunteer Fire Department

We are all noticing the sudden heavy layer of smoke in the air this morning, and so I want to help the community understand where it is coming from. According to the National Weather Service, there is a new fire started in Flagstaff, AZ, and the smoke is on a track right across our area.

However, conditions are getting tougher as we enter the summer, with hotter and drier days and increased wind. Please be very careful with anything that could spark, take water with you when you run the chainsaw, etc.

Here are a few of the resources we use to find where smoke is coming from, in case it helps:

• NWS Boulder
• Fire and Smoke Map
• FTS360 Overwatch

As always, call 911 if you see flames or a well-defined plume.

Jeff Elsner, Chief
Rist Canyon Volunteer Fire Department

This month’s meeting of the RCVFD Board is at 6 pm Wednesday, June 15, at Fire Station 1, 11835 Rist Canyon Road. All Rist Canyon area residents are welcome to attend. If you would like to receive a copy of the agenda before the meeting, please email your name, email address, and phone number no later than June 8 to the RCVFD Board Secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please note that the agenda will arrive 1-2 days before the scheduled meeting.

This month’s meeting of the RCVFD Board is at 6 pm Wednesday, May 18, at Fire Station 1, 11835 Rist Canyon Road. All Rist Canyon area residents are welcome to attend. If you would like to receive a copy of the agenda before the meeting, please email your name, email address, and phone number no later than May 11 to the RCVFD Board Secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please note that the agenda will arrive 1-2 days before the scheduled meeting.

This month’s meeting of the RCVFD Board is at 6 pm Wednesday, April 20, at Fire Station 1, 11835 Rist Canyon Road. All Rist Canyon area residents are welcome to attend. If you would like to receive a copy of the agenda before the meeting, please email your name, email address, and phone number no later than April 13 to the RCVFD Board Secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please note that the agenda will arrive 1-2 days before the scheduled meeting.

This month’s meeting of the RCVFD Board is at 6 pm Wednesday, March 16, and will be held at Fire Station 1, 11835 Rist Canyon Road. All Rist Canyon area residents are welcome to attend. If you would like to receive a copy of the agenda before the meeting, please email your name, email address, and phone number no later than Saturday, March 12, to the RCVFD Board Secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please note that the agenda will arrive 1-2 days before the scheduled meeting.

Due to the inclement weather forecast for tomorrow night (Wednesday, Feb. 16), the RCVFD Board meeting will not take place in person at the fire station as originally planned. Rather, the meeting will be by Zoom at 6 pm. If you wish to receive the Zoom connection information, please email the Board Secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. right away. Please include your name, email address, and phone number.