Some people who live in the Denver metro area on Thursday afternoon were making calls to 911 after skies became noticeably hazy and winds kicked up. It was due to smoke from wildfires in Nebraska moving into Colorado. A cold front also was moving through the Front Range, and there is dust in the air.

The poor air conditions led to reduced visibility downtown after 3 p.m. Several of CBS Colorado’s City Cams showed dust or smoke in the air.

Temperatures were expected to drop by as much as 20 to 30 degrees with the cold front.  

The suddenly dusty skies prompted at least one fire agency to put out a plea to residents to please only call 911 “if you see flames.” That warning was put out by South Metro Fire Rescue, which shared a photo on X of an office building with haze visible outside.

South Metro Fire Rescue said in their post that the smoke is from Colorado’s neighbor to the east. They called it a “significant haze” in the air.

Earlier this month, the Morrill Fire and the Cottonwood Fire burned a significant amount of Nebraska grassland and ranchland. They have mostly been contained by firefighters. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen said those two fires combined with several others have burned approximately 800,000 acres of land. On Thursday, Pillen announced that he is signing several executive actions intended to ease the burden caused by the fires.  

There were no wildfires burning in the Denver metro area on Thursday afternoon.