The Virginian-Pilot
BELLVUE, Colo. — Massive wildfires in drought-parched Colorado and New Mexico tested the resources of state and federal crews Monday and underscored the need to replenish an aging U.S. aerial firefighting fleet needed to combat a year-round fire season.
Wyoming diverted personnel and aircraft from two fires there to help with a 60-square-mile wildfire in Colorado. Canada also loaned two aerial bombers to fight that blaze after the recent crash of a U.S. tanker in Utah. And an elite federal firefighting crew arrived to try to begin containing a fire that destroyed at least 118 structures.
All told, about 600 firefighters will be battling the fire about 15 miles west of Fort Collins by today, authorities said.
The U.S. Forest Service said late Monday it would add more aircraft, contracting one air tanker from Alaska and four from Canada. Two more air tankers were being activated in California.
The announcement came after Colorado’s U.S. House delegation demanded that the agency deploy more resources to the fire, which forced hundreds of people to abandon their homes.
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