LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. – In the first time since the Marshall Fire, Colorado Governor Jared Polis on Wednesday issued a fire-related order to mobilize the Colorado National Guard to support crews battling the three Colorado wildfires that broke out in as many days.
“They are the ones able to take additional support positions, road closures, logistics to then free up other first responders to more directly respond to the fires,” said Polis.
Standing outside the Loveland Fire Station 7, Polis and Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse were flanked by state and federal fire officials leading the overall response to the wildfires burning in Larimer, Boulder and Jefferson Counties.
“We're taking an all hands on deck approach to deal with the number of fires across the state of Colorado,” said Polis. “At the outbreak of each fire, we immediately deployed our aviation resources to support fire containment and response and management, and to be clear, that mission is to protect population centers and structures.”
Fire crews in Colorado have had much to deal with over the last three days.
With the Quarry Fire in Jefferson County – which took off overnight Wednesday – forcing hundreds of people to evacuate their homes on top of firefighting efforts at the Stone Canyon Fire burning north of Lyons and the Alexander Mountain Fire, which ballooned to over 6,780 acres, Polis added “the state and feds are stepping up to fight the fires.”
As the Alexander Mountain Fire continued to grow and as thousands of people have been forced to flee the fire zone under mandatory evacuations, officials said they are focused on stopping the fire's spread from reaching the Cedar Park community or from jumping across Highway 34.
One person was reported killed and four firefighters injured in the Stone Canyon Fire, as it continued to burn north of Lyons.
In addition to the mobilization of the Colorado National Guard, fire officials said additional air resources were helping to battle the wildfires.
“We do have two scooper aircraft from Wyoming that have come down, that are going to be working the Quarry fire today, along with a Firehawk, will be moved down there,” said Stan Hilkey, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) closed Chatfield Reservoir to allow aircraft access to water.
“DNR has done a great helping us close Chatfield reservoir, to be able to have a, you know, unfettered access, to be able to scoop water out of those, which will be a very short turnaround for those fires,” said Hilkey.
1 person dies, 4 firefighters injured in Stone Canyon Fire | Watch video update below
With major wildfires breaking out across the United States, including in Oregon where more than one million acres burned, and the California Park Fire, one of that state’s largest ever, fire resources are spread out across the nation impacting resources tackling Colorado’s four wildfires.
As other states in the past have sent resources to Colorado to help our state battle wildfires, our state’s fire departments have recently shared resources to help fight wildfires, including those in the western part of the U.S.
“Because of the severity of fires in other parts of the country, we continue to support active fire missions in Oregon and other places with municipal and fire districts here in Colorado,” said Polis.
Wildfire
Photos capturing views of the three fast-moving Colorado wildfires
Hilkey stressed helping other states has not “severely impacted” Colorado’s firefighting efforts in the short term.
“Because of the national planning level 5 status, where, you know, those resources from the country are getting consumed by other states, I do get a little bit worried about our long haul and our ability to staff these fires in a long term way,” said Hilkey.
“I think my message is, you know, to the fire chiefs that have sent staff there, we support that noble mission of helping our partners, because our partners help us when we need it. But I also think that as opportunity arises and with the weather patterns that we're gonna have the rest of the summer, I’d feel a lot more comfortable if we had some of their resources back in the state as well to help us with the long-term impacts.”
The level 5 status is the highest preparedness level of the National Multi-Agency Coordination Group or NMAC, which is made up of wildland fire officials from across the country to help mobilize and prioritize firefighting resources in the U.S.
“There's not a lot of fire departments in Colorado that have wildland firefighting resources, but those that do put their resources in this interagency system and when it's needed, then the interagency system can pull them as necessary, and they can send their their people, to that fire and so that's what's happened in this case,” said Hilkey.
While Colorado has received additional resources, including air support, Hilkey added finding extra ground support while other states battle large wildfires is challenging.
“That is one of the most scarce resources right now is ground crews to get on the ground and build that fire line around the fire, and that's something that we're continuing to, you know, do our best to take a grasp at, but we're competing with other states at the moment,” said Hilkey.
As the cost of battling Colorado’s three wildfires continues to grow, Polis on Wednesday also announced the federal government will take on a large chunk of the financial commitment.
“We also have an announcement from FEMA that 75% of the costs under the declared emergency are going to be covered by the federal government for Larimer and Boulder Counties,” said Polis. He noted a large portion of the fire impacted by the Alexander Mountain Fire was on U.S. Forest Service Lands.
Around 4,000 people have been evacuated as over 250 firefighters battle The Alexander Mountain Fire but there have been no structures lost and no deaths reported, officials said.
As crews have shifted to also battle Wednesday’s Stone Canyon Fire – which stood at 0% containment – fixed-wing and rotary aircraft are now being shared across the three fires in Jefferson, Boulder and Larimer Counties.
Colorado’s first Firehawk helicopter, equipped with a 1,000-gallon tank, is drawing water from Horsetooth Reservoir and “repeating those missions as quickly as possible,” said Polis.“We have three air tankers, one large air tanker that can deliver 3,000 gallons and two single engine air tankers that have 800 gallons of retardant,” he added.
Those air resources continue to repeat missions to the fire zones from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport and other northern Colorado airports.
Polis and other officials stressed hot and dry weather conditions are likely to continue for the foreseeable future and throughout the summer, adding to the wildfire threat.
“I want to encourage my fellow Coloradans to be fire aware, and that means making sure that you're only doing campfires in designated areas with the proper precautions,” warned Polis. “Be careful around recreating with live ammunition in wild areas around cigarette smoking and cigar smoking, and, of course, with off road motor vehicles, many fires that are human-caused originate from those sources,”
District 2 Congressman Joe Neguse, who represents fire-ravaged areas, said these battles are “going to be a journey” and that it might take weeks and even months to fight and recover from the fires.
“I think Coloradans can rest assured that they have the finest wildfire wildland firefighters, firefighters, members of law enforcement and public safety officials working to address these multiple challenges and collaborating together,” said Rep. Neguse.
Wildfires are now a year-round threat in Colorado. Denver7 is committed to covering their impact and the people working to find solutions to the threat.