Colorado: West Slope firefighting resources are stretched

Summit County’s fire departments fully staffed

Summit County firefighters extinguish a small wildfire between Keystone and Montezuma late March, 2012 while standing on a berm of snow, a testament to this year’s unusual fire conditions in Colorado and around the West. Photo by Bob Berwyn.

Fire danger in Summit County is between very high and extreme.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Even with firefighting crews and equipment pouring in from around the country, incident managers at major fires in Colorado are scrambling to find the resources needed to tackle new fires as they start.

“It’s safe to say we’re a little thin on the West Slope right now,” said Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue deputy chief Jeff Berino, discussing how, in his role as a regional incident commander, he’s been studying the best way to deploy firefighters to specific incidents while keeping enough personnel in reserve to respond to new calls. (more…)

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 5,596 other followers