County looks to put warning flags in Fort Morgan

Recent drowning has officials looking to prevent further issues

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County leaders discussed the possibility of purchasing warning flags and flagpoles for use in the Fort Morgan area, following yet another drowning in that portion of the county.

Commissioner Skip Gruber said he and Commissioner Tucker Dorsey met with Fort Morgan Volunteer Fire Department members recently to try to discuss what the county could do to help.

“As volunteers, they’re trying to do as much as they can,” Gruber said, of the fire department.

Gruber said the groups were looking at 31 different sites in Fort Morgan where flagpoles with red warning flags could be placed, manned and put up by members of the Fort Morgan VFD.

“At least there would be some notification out there to let people know,” Gruber said.

Gruber added that drownings in the area weighed heavily on the volunteer firefighters.

“Id’s hard on them when they lose someone down there,” Gruber said. “It’s on their heart that they did not finish their mission. This last incident they had, they had their folks out in the water trying to help, and they almost lost one of their own.”

Dorsey said he’d also like to see the county help out with messaging to help direct visitors and tourists to information on what the conditions are and how to get out of rip currents.

“We’ve had conversations the last few months about what we need to do here,” Dorsey said. “I think we need signage and messaging out there to follow EMA or the National Weather Service for updates on what to do. I want to do whatever we can.”

Gruber said the flagpoles and flags would cost at most $50 per site.

County leaders said they would likely move forward on the proposal following a review from county staff.