Colorado faces high fire risk.
With millions of trees ravaged by bark beetles, state and federal officials say they are prepared for what could be a nasty wildfire season this year.
Gov. Bill Ritter met with the officials at the governor's annual fire season briefing last week, and he said the forecast calls for a warm, windy summer that could significantly increase the number of wildfires.
The wildfire season began tragically when a rekindled fire started a wildfire in Ordway last month, killing two firefighters and burning 22 homes. A separate fire in El Paso County claimed the life of a pilot when his firefighting plane crashed.
"Regardless of what is burning or how many acres are going up in smoke, nothing is more tragic than loss of life," Ritter said.
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