Dear Editor: The climate crisis is exasperating the fire danger. I retired from the U.S. Forest Service at the end of 1994 and the average fire season in the West has extended two months longer since that time. Severe drought, higher temperatures, more frequent winds and heavy fuels that have not been thinned, slash burned and pruned all play a role.

Many homes in Ouray County are located in the wildland urban interface, or WUI. A majority of these homes are not “firewise” and would not survi...