According to the Summit 911 Center, many across Summit County may have woken up to smoky skies on Saturday, but the smoke in the air is smoke from wildfires in neighboring states. The Summit 911 Center encourages people to call 911 only if they see an organized or established column of smoke emanating from a single location, or if flames associated with smoke occur.

Due to windy conditions and relatively low humidity across the region, the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning out of Denver and Boulder on the morning of Saturday, October 5th.

According to the National Weather Service, red flag warnings mean that critical fire weather conditions are “either occurring now or will occur shortly.”

The red flag warning covers numerous counties, including Summit, Clear Creek, North and West Park Counties above 9,000 feet and Grand County below 9,000 feet. The red flag warning went into effect at 10 a.m. Saturday and will end at 7 p.m

The National Weather Service expects winds of 20 to 35 mph from the west with gusts up to 50 mph for most of the day. The wind combined with humidity of just 10% creates favorable conditions for the fire to spread quickly.

According to Summit Fire & EMS, the wildfire threat in Summit County increased to “very high” on Thursday, October 3.