'Active fire season' looms this summer in Colorado

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — State wildfire crews are bracing for "a very active fire season" because of significant damage to trees from pine beetles and a forecast of dry weather, Gov. Bill Ritter said Thursday.

Ritter also said heavy spring snow and rain could produce a thick growth of vegetation that will dry out in the summer heat and fuel wildfires.

Coloradans are grateful for the moisture, "but we are also aware that there are abundant fuels and predicted weather that could make for a very active fire season," Ritter said.

The beetle epidemic in Colorado and across the West has killed millions of trees, raising fears the dry, dead trunks will mean more and faster-spreading wildfires.

A study released late last year by university researchers in Colorado and Idaho suggested the opposite might be true, however. The study said beetles may reduce wildfire risk by naturally thinning forests.