Colorado could continue to see hazy skies this week as wildfire activity in the West picks up.

Smoke from three large wildfires burning in Utah and Nevada pushed across the Western Slope over the weekend, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment. The light-to-moderate smoke was not enough for the department to issue public health advisories, but similar conditions could continue.

“Modelling of weather conditions, fire behavior and smoke impacts generally agree on broad features, and combined with observed trends and impacts, leads to an unsurprising conclusion: That smoke will continue to affect Colorado at times over the coming days,” the department wrote in its Smoke Blog on Sunday.

There are no large wildfires in Colorado contributing to the smoke at this time. The smoke seen across Colorado’s mountains over the weekend came from the about 24,000-acre Iron Fire in central Utah and the nearly 15,000-acre Kane Springs Fire and the roughly 13,000-acre Grapevine fires burning in southern Utah, according to the Colorado health officials.

Because wind and fire conditions can change quickly, the state health department cannot pinpoint where or when the heaviest smoke will be, Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment communications specialist Zachary Aedo said in an email. The department does not expect to issue any health advisories this week.

As of Monday, wildfires this season had burned roughly 2.7 million acres nationwide, an area about two-thirds the size of Rhode Island, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. That’s an increase of 160% in total acres burned compared to the 10-year average for this point in the fire season.

With more large fires burning across the country, the Interagency Fire Center last week upped its wildfire preparedness status to Level 3 of 5, indicating that wildfire resources are being mobilized nationwide and moving resources from non-active areas could pose an added risk, if conditions change.

While Colorado has not seen any large wildfires so far this season, there have been a number of smaller wildfires. A wildfire north of Hayden burned nearly 100 acres this month before firefighters contained it. The Spring Creek Fire also burned about 20 acres in the White River National Forest near the border of Pitkin and Eagle counties earlier this month, before it was contained, and firefighters were able to quickly contain small wildfires that broke out in Glenwood Canyon, closing Interstate 70 for several hours. 

Fire danger remains elevated across the Colorado mountains, where nearly every county has issued fire restrictions banning most campfires. The National Weather Service has also issued a “red flag warning” advising of a combination of hot, dry and windy conditions that are “favorable for rapid fire spread” that will remain in place through Tuesday evening.

With the fire restrictions in place, law enforcement officers in the mountains are cracking down on illegal fires. Summit County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Mike Schilling said Monday that the sheriff’s office takes a “zero tolerance” approach to enforcing fire restrictions.

This weekend, Schilling said that the sheriff’s office issued court summons to three campers for misdemeanor charges related to violating the county’s fire restrictions. While deputies are not able to patrol remote backcountry areas for illegal fires at all times, he said there is abundant messaging, including signage at most trailheads, indicating that the fire restrictions are in place.

“The messaging is out there,” Schilling said. “It’s so well posted that somebody’s got to really be willingly going out of their way to do what they want with a disregard to public safety if they’re still having campfires.”