A lightning-packed storm sparked a dozen wildfires in 24 hours this weekend as it pushed northeast through Colorado.

Then, almost as quickly as Mother Nature started the fires, she doused them, including a 790-acre blaze south of Dinosaur National Monument, where up to a half inch of rain fell through Saturday.

But even with the new fires, the number of acres burned in Colorado is way down from recent drought years, said Larry Helmerick, Rocky Mountain Coordination Area spokesman.

Education about preventing wildfires, wetter and cooler weather and better strategies for fighting fires have all helped keep the numbers lower, Helmerick said.

As the 2004 wildfire season winds down, totals for the state are in the normal range, similar to years just prior to the drought, he said.

So far this year, 30,000 acres of Colorado have been scorched. That's 10,000 acres less than last year and a fraction of 2002, when about 600,000 acres burned.

Helmerick said most wildfires in Colorado are usually caused by humans. Careless campers and people letting controlled fires get out of control usually cause more than nature, he said.

Colorado's largest fire this year was the human-caused Picnic Rock fire in Larimer County, which burned 9,000 acres in March, he said.

This year, only 30 percent of the wildfires were caused by humans, he said. Normally people start 70 percent.

"We've been telling people to come and enjoy Colorado but be safe and careful," Helmerick said. "Maybe the messages are working."

Owners of Conifer Village Hardware, hit hard by wildfires the two previous summers, say the decrease in fires has meant an increase at the cash register. Their business has seen a 25 percent increase in sales of fishing poles and tackle this year.

"Camping- and fishing-related sales have been bad the last few years," store manager Russell Stimatze said.

While the weather and education have kept the burned acreage down, firefighters also have more single-engine air tankers, which can land in smaller airports closer to remote wildfires, Helmerick said.

Firefighters have been able to get to fires quicker and stop them before they spread, he said.

Meanwhile, four tankers and 40 Hotshot crew members may have saved several homes near the Sheep Ranch fire, 10 miles south of Dinosaur National Monument.

The Craig Interagency Dispatch Center said the fire was contained at 2 p.m.

Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com .

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