19-03-2025
High winds lead to power outages across Denver metro area to reduce wildfire risk
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — High wind on Tuesday could mean power outages for people in parts of the Denver metro area and foothills.
On Tuesday, Core Electric Cooperative engaged alternate relay settings on its lines in Castle Rock, Bennett and Conifer service areas.
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'We reprogram our system so if a tree or an animal were to get into our lines, the line automatically de-energizes and does not automatically reenergize,' Amber King, spokesperson for Core Electric Cooperative said.
Without power running through the lines, they can't create a spark to ignite a wildfire.
'What that can do is cause some outages because what we then do is have our crews go inspect the line to ensure there's no fire risk before we reenergize,' King said.
According to King, power outages due to the alternate relay settings happened across their service area on Monday. Tuesday afternoon, an outage impacting more than 1,000 customers was reported. Core sent linemen to inspect the equipment but it was not immediately clear if the outage was due to the wildfire safety setting.
Xcel Energy has a similar system to protect against wildfire, called Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings.
'When EPSS is activated, power lines are more sensitive and can instantly stop the flow of energy if an object touches the line,' Xcel said in a statement.
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In cases of extreme wildfire danger, Xcel can proactively turn off the power by employing a Public Safety Power Shutoff. The utility company said it has no plans to employ the PSPS protocol during this week's weather event.
'These are some of the hottest, driest, windiest days on record the last couple of days,' West Metro Fire Rescue Lieutenant Rhett Blackmer said.
Blackmer is part of WMFR's wildland fire response team. He says sparks from power lines are a big concern during red flag conditions.
'Anything that is small that we're going to go to can pretty quickly become a large incident,' Blackmer said.
WMFR's protocol during periods of increased fire danger is to automatically upgrade all calls for vegetation fires to a 'large' response to ensure there are enough resources on-site to handle a rapidly spreading fire. The specialized brush truck also follows traditional engines on every call.
'Time is of the essence on a windy day like today,' Blackmer said. 'As the Denver metro area grows and we move further into these wildland-urban interface areas, more and more homes are at risk in wildfire type areas.'
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South Metro Fire Rescue employs a similar technique to WMFR. On red flag days, brush trucks follow along on all engine calls until 9 p.m.
'We do this so that if a vegetation fire breaks out while our responders are not at the station, all resources will be together and ready to respond without unnecessary delay,' SMFR spokesperson Tate Owen said.
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