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State fire officials fear molasses-like response Big January blazes are raising concerns about preparedness. Crews and gear are scarcer in the winter and slow to arrive.
By MONTE WHALEY
The Denver Post (Colorado)
Firefighting managers worry that Colorado lacks the crews and equipment needed for a rapid response to a major wildfire during the winter months.
In the past week, two fires have left thousands of acres scorched in Jefferson County and southern Colorado as dry and windy conditions persist along the Front Range.
While local and regional fire crews were able to manage those fires, a major blaze would be far more destructive because it could take up to 48 hours to mobilize an adequate response, authorities say.
“There are still deep layers of resources we can call on,” said Jason Mantas, spokesman for the Poudre Fire Authority in Larimer County. “But they are not going to be here within 24 to 48 hours like they are during the regular fire season, which can turn into a big problem.”
Many firefighters called upon to face fires in July are now behind desks or in training, far away from potential hot spots. Airplanes, helicopters and other firefighting equipment are sitting in storage, being used overseas or undergoing repairs.
All those resources can be summoned in January or February, but there is a greater lag time before they show up at the scene of a fire, Mantas said.
Air tankers and helicopters that local agencies need for large wildland fires are usually under contract through the Colorado fire season, typically from late May through August.
But during the winter, those aircraft are being used by the U.S. military overseas, for spraying or for helping study seismic activity in the United States, said Brian Oliver, fuel and mitigation specialist with the Boulder Fire Department.
“We can get that equipment, but we have to order it, and that takes about 48 hours, and by the time 48 hours are up, the damage is done,” Oliver said.
Another problem is that the weather stations fire crews use to predict wind activity and fire behavior are not running during the winter, said Justin Dombrowski, wildland fire coordinator for the Boulder Fire Department.
Fire departments in Colorado and other Western states should begin preparing for fires year-round, Dombrowski said.
“We need to wrap ourselves around the idea that wildland fires can happen anytime of the year, even with snow on the ground,” he said.
A blaze in Mauricio Canyon, near Aguilar, about 175 miles south of Denver, burned about 4,500 acres last weekend, and a 300-acre fire threatened homes and forced evacuations near Carter Lake in Larimer County on Sunday night. Just two days later, 130 homes had to be evacuated as a 2,700-acre wildfire fire loomed in west Jefferson County.
All the fires were fueled by dry, windy conditions that are unusual for winter, leaving fire managers a bit on edge.
Emergency crews are being sent to both the Arapaho and Roosevelt national forests and the Pawnee National Grassland in northern Colorado to patrol higher-risk areas. They are available to respond quickly to wildfires on national-forest lands, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Reghan Cloudman.
Two fire engines will be staffed for the Canyon Lakes Ranger District and Pawnee National Grassland in Larimer and Weld counties. Another duty officer and two more engines with three-person crews will be assigned to the Boulder and Clear Creek ranger districts. Staffing at the Fort Collins Interagency Dispatch Center also will be increased.
This “severity staffing” will be maintained until Jan. 21 and then may be extended depending on conditions, Cloudman said.
Still, the move to bolster manpower may not be enough should a huge blaze erupt anytime soon, she noted.
“Even with temporary increased staffing, firefighting resources in the winter are very scarce,” she said.
Many firefighters who work for the Forest Service are seasonal and are now in school or working other jobs, she said, though many who mark trees on the agency’s timber crews are also firefighters and can be called if needed.
Other firefighters take extensive training courses this time of year.
One of the largest is at the Great Plains Wildfire College in Sterling, where 600 firefighters from 25 states are learning the latest firefighting techniques.
Authorities say they aren’t ready to panic because a higher number of crews and supplies aren’t readily available. There are plenty of options should the need arise, said Jim Maxwell, spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Regional Office of the U.S. Forest Service.
“We have a deep bench.”