Aircraft have played key role in fire season

Officials say Northern Colorado Regional Airport is continuing to provide a vital link in the state’s response to a record-breaking fire season, including the Cameron Peak Fire that has grown to become the largest in Larimer County’s history.

Director Jason Licon said planes staging out of the airport this year have flown as far away as Trinidad, located near Colorado’s border with New Mexico, as well as over the Lewstone and Cameron Peak Fire areas to aid fire response efforts.

He said approximately 25,000 gallons of retardant and gel was dropped over the course of 17 missions in August, and that “this month far outweighs the last in terms of numbers.”

“We have these times of higher fire danger, and because of that, the activity is increased,” he said. “We haven’t really seen this since the High Park Fire.”

Over the past week, Licon said the airport has been home base for about four single-engine air tankers, which use the facility for refueling and loading up retardant. A Lockheed P-3 Orion was also recently stationed at Noco Regional but has since left.

Besides fighting the fire directly, aircraft have also helped perform reconnaissance, dropped grass seed on burned areas to control erosion and transported firefighters, including smokejumpers, to and from assignments.

However, Licon said most of their traffic has been tankers, with helicopters staging out of Christman Airfield in Fort Collins, which is closer to Cameron Peak. He said a Noco Regional fire rescue vehicle has also been moved to Christman to provide assistance.

Spokeswoman Caley Fisher of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, which handles firefighting aviation contracts for the state, also said the airport is one of several crucial facilities that have helped during the 2020 wildfire response.

“They’re absolutely vital to us executing our mission,” she said. “That airport has been such a good partner, and they have been so accommodating and flexible, and I can’t thank them enough.”

In addition to Christman, Licon said other partners in battling the Cameron Peak Fire have included airports in Craig, Broomfield and Laramie, Wyo.

“A lot of folks don’t understand how important airports are for these types of activities,” he said. “There’s a whole handful of airports across our region that do these sorts of things, and probably six are helping with Cameron Peak right now.”

“There’s quite a bit that happens behind the scenes, so if you look up, and you see an aircraft painted red and white headed either northwest or southeast, it’s probably working to save houses and property from this fire that’s still moving.”