Moffat, Eagle and a small portion of South Routt counties are in Red Flag Warnings today, Thursday, June 19. Yampa Valley Electric will be going into Fire Protection Mode in those areas from noon until 8 p.m. tonight. (This story was updated with the change from the operations manager with YVEA, “it is a small portion of Routt County to the south that will be in FPM, not all of Routt County.”
Additionally, Eagle and Moffat are in a Red Flag Warning from 9 a.m. to noon, Friday, June 20.
Press Release from Yampa Valley Electric; June 19, 2025.
Headline: YVEA is Putting a Portion of Eagle County and all of Moffat and Routt Counties into Fire Protection Mode
June 19th, 2025 – The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for Eagle, Moffat and Routt County from noon until 8 p.m., June 19, 2025. Moffat County will go back into a Red Flag Warning on Friday, June 20th, at 9 a.m. and the warning lasts until noon. Members who are impacted by us going into Fire Protection Mode (FPM) have received a call and/or email from Yampa Valley Electric Association (YVEA).
To view a map of the areas affected by the Red Flag Warning, go to the National Weather Service website at noaa.gov or https://www.weather.gov/wrh/hazards?wfo=psr
A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly, including wind and low relative humidity. Excessively dry conditions and significant wind speeds are predicted to impact Eagle, Moffat, and Routt County, which will create an elevated risk of wildfire, peaking the afternoon and evening of Thursday, June 19th. Additionally, Moffat County will move back into a Red Flag Warning on Friday, June 20th, from 9:00 am until midnight. There are currently no active fires, and we are putting our system into this safety mode in order to help prevent a fire from starting during these weather conditions. Members may use their power as normal during Fire Protection Mode, and will not notice any service interruptions unless there is an actual outage.
When these settings are activated, power lines are more sensitive and can instantly stop the flow of energy if an issue, like a tree branch touching the line, is detected. This does not mean the company has proactively turned off a customer’s power but is the result of an issue on the line. Power will remain off until our crews can visually inspect powerlines to make sure it is safe to turn them back on. These settings are intended to improve public safety during heightened fire risk conditions, but it means power outages, if they occur, are likely to last longer than typical outages.
YVEA will position crews to respond as quickly as possible once the period of high risk has passed. YVEA currently has no plans to implement a complete shutdown of our system – we would only do so if conditions change drastically or at the direction of emergency management.
If conditions allow, we will return our system back to normal operations this evening. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, and will keep you informed if conditions progress and the utility moves to the next operating mode. Please stay safe!
View our Wildfire Mitigation Plan at https://www.yvea.com/outages-safety/wildfire-mitigation/
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About Yampa Valley Electric Association Yampa Valley Electric Association (YVEA) is a member-owned electric cooperative serving over 28,000 meters and 23,000 members over 2,840 miles of line covering a 7,000 square-mile service territory in northwest Colorado and southern Wyoming. We provide safe, affordable, reliable power and efficient energy services to members. We help our communities thrive by striving to provide innovative, affordable and environmentally sound solutions, while fostering leadership and growth throughout our region. More information is available at www.yvea.com.