Colorado firefighters deploy to California
Colorado firefighting agencies have deployed about 20 people and three engines to California to help fight the deadly wildfires raging at both ends of the state, so far claiming at least 44 lives.
The Broomfield-based North Metro Fire Rescue District, the Deer Mountain Fire Protection in Cotopaxi and the Timberline Fire Protection District, based in Black Hawk, each sent a fire engine to California, with three to four firefighters on each truck.
Additionally, as of Tuesday, Colorado agencies — including the Denver Fire Department — California had sent a wildfires. total of Search for nine additional victims intensifies. people to » 23A
California to assist with public information and coordination of firefighting efforts.
With resources stretched thin, many states in the western U.S. have sent firefighters to assist the efforts in Northern and Southern California, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
In Northern California, the Camp fire ripped through the mountain town of Paradise, killing at least 42 people in recent days. Authorities found some victims in their cars, unable to escape the fast-moving blaze before it engulfed them.
In Southern California, the Hill and Woolsey fires have been marching toward the coast, squeezing people out of homes in the Malibu area northwest of Los Angeles and killing at least two people.
Assistance from Colorado has come from across the state, including a firefighter from Denver deployed to assist the public information team on the Hill Fire, said Denver Fire Department spokesman Greg Pixley. Denver Fire declined to release that person’s name.
Capt. Eric Abramson from the Nederland Fire Protection District and Lt. Chris Samuelson and Lt. John Carder of the Timberline Fire Protection District are working in Oroville, Calif., near the Camp Fire, said Timberline Chief Paul Ondr.
“This is an opportunity to get experience that there is no other way to get,” Ondr said. “You hope you never need (it).”
It’s unclear the total number of firefighters from Colorado that are in California, said Caley Fisher, a spokeswoman with the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. More than just firefighters, though, Colorado has sent other resources to help California.
The world’s largest firefighting airplane is flying over the Camp fire after departing its home in Colorado Springs on Friday morning. The plane, a converted Boeing 747-400 known as the Global Super Tanker, can safely fly with 18,000 gallons of water or retardant on board, 15 to 16 times more than normal-sized tankers.
California already had seen a devastating fire season this year. This summer’s Mendocino Complex fire was the largest in the state’s history, burning 459,123 acres in Northern California, according to the U.S. Forest Service.