Ouray County and the town of Ridgway enacted stage 1 fire restrictions on Wednesday, making it illegal to use personal fireworks, have any sort of opening burning or light campfires outside permanent fire pits, among other restrictions.

The county and town implemented the ban in a coordinated response, citing extreme fire danger, warm temperatures and dry conditions. As of Wednesday, the city of Ouray had not yet instituted a similar ban.

The ban also restricts smoking outdoors, operating combustion engines without spark-arresting devices, and welding or operating torches unless the area has been cleared and a chemical pressurized fire extinguisher is present.

Violating the fire ban can result in a fine between $100 and $500, and additional criminal charges may apply if a fire damages property.

The local ban comes about three weeks earlier than last year and in the middle of a days-long string of red flag warnings for Ouray County.

The Bureau of Land Management’s Tres Rios Field Office implemented stage 1 fire restrictions on May 29, an area that covers BLM-managed lands in Archuleta, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Montezuma, San Juan and San Miguel counties. The BLM’s Uncompahgre Field Office, which manages public lands in Ouray County and elsewhere, has not yet enacted fire restrictions. The U.S. Forest Service has also not yet implemented restrictions in the Grand Mesa, Gunnison and Uncompahgre National Forests.

For more specific details on the fire restrictions and information on all the fire restrictions in the region, visit westslopefireinfo. com.