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Colorado Faces Long Fire Season As Crews Gain Momentum On Major Blazes
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Faces Long Fire Season As Crews Gain Momentum On Major Blazes

By Justin George | The Colorado Sun Procession along I-70 scheduled Monday for pilot killed fighting Gold Mountain fire. On Sunday, firefighters worked across Colorado and prepped for monsoon weather. As firefighters work to fortify containment lines on wildfires burning across Colorado, a procession is set for Monday to escort the body of helicopter pilot Nicholas Dale from Montrose to Denver International Airport.  Dale, 56, of Canada died July 12 when his helicopter crashed into Silver Jack Reservoir while fighting the Gold Mountain fire near Ouray.  A small convoy of about 10 emergency vehicles is scheduled to leave Montrose at 7 a.m. Monday from Cripping Funeral Home and will travel north to Grand Junction then east on Interstate ...
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Rye Evacuations Continue As Aspen Acres Fire Nears 100,000 Acres
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Rye Evacuations Continue As Aspen Acres Fire Nears 100,000 Acres

By: Savannah Eller and Nick Smith | The Denver Gazette The wait has no end in sight for evacuated residents of Rye, near where the Aspen Acres fire continues to burn in rough, tinder-dry terrain to the west. While about 6,400 people have been able to return to communities like Colorado City, Wetmore and Beulah, Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero told attendees at a community meeting Tuesday night that conditions were not yet safe for an additional 3,000 displaced people. “I wish I had the answer,” he said. The problem, explained Brad Washa, operations section chief with the Alaska Complex Incident Management Team, is fuel and weather. He said the part of the fire burning near St. Charles Peak is finding extremely receptive fuel in Engelman spruce trees, many of ...
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Disaster Declaration Issued as Routt County Wildfires Threaten Communities
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Disaster Declaration Issued as Routt County Wildfires Threaten Communities

By: Eugene Buchanan | The Denver Gazette Kris and Jenn Shea of Steamboat Springs were lucky. When the evacuation orders came for their home near the new “Green Ridge Fire” — which erupted near Stagecoach Reservoir, about 15 miles south of Steamboat, on Sunday at 1:45 p.m. and quickly spread to 94.3 acres by that evening — they were both out of town. Jenn was in Buena Vista, and Kris was fishing in Florida. But their friends were there to rally support and grab their belongings.  Fortunately, it didn’t come to that as the order was soon rescinded. But for Kris, it was touch-and-go with the fire spotting just a mile or two away.  “It was pretty surreal,” said Kris, who owns Cruiser’s Sub Shop. “I was in the middle of the Gulf and felt a little handcuffed. My wi...
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Polis Declares Disaster Emergency As Ferris Fire Tops 57,000 Acres
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Polis Declares Disaster Emergency As Ferris Fire Tops 57,000 Acres

By: Christa Swanson | CBS Colorado The growing Ferris Fire in southwest Colorado has consumed over 50,000 acres, prompting Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to declare a disaster emergency. On Wednesday, the governor's office announced the verbal declaration, which activates the State Emergency Operations Plan and increases the resources available for containment efforts. Ferris Fire moves up steep terrain in the Glade Creek area. Ferris Fire Incident Command READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
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Aspen Acres Fire Tops 91,000 Acres as New Evacuations Hit Fremont County
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Aspen Acres Fire Tops 91,000 Acres as New Evacuations Hit Fremont County

By: Dana Coffield | The Colorado Sun The Willow fire near Leadville grew by 900 acres overnight spurring mandatory evacuation of areas southwest of the city. Ouray 100 race canceled because of Gold Mountain fire. The Aspen Acres fire southwest of Pueblo made another surge Sunday, bringing the total acres burned to 91,523, federal fire officials said, and making it the seventh largest wildfire on record in Colorado. Authorities said Thursday the fire was human-caused but released no further details about its origin as it raced northeast from near the Aspen Acres campground across Pueblo County, where it forced the evacuation of the towns of Beulah, Colorado City, Rye, San Isabel and Wetmore. Around 8:15 p.m. Sunday, the Fremont County sheriff issued a mandator...
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Thousands Gather at Red Rocks for Nation’s Largest 9/11 Stair Climb
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Local, Approved, kdvr.com

Thousands Gather at Red Rocks for Nation’s Largest 9/11 Stair Climb

By Courtney Fromm | KDVR Fox 31 MORRISON, Colo. (KDVR) — Thousands gathered Thursday morning for the 17th annual 9/11 memorial stair climb at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison. Thursday marked 24 years since such a tragic day in the nation’s history and those who come out to the stair climb go up the stairs at the amphitheater to pay tribute to the firefighters and everyone killed back in 2001. The whole event starts in the upper south parking lot with a few words from organizers and a moment of silence right at 8:46 a.m., which marks the moment the first plane hit the first tower. “The 2025 Colorado 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb is a way to honor and remember the 343 FDNY firefighters and almost 3,000 Americans who died on 9/11,” Ronda Scholting, with West Metro Fire said in a pr...
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Gazette editorial board: Why taxing servers and medics is political malpractice
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denvergazette.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Gazette editorial board: Why taxing servers and medics is political malpractice

The Gazette editorial board | Commentary, Denver Gazette You’d think our state’s ruling Democrats would be doing their level best to win back the working class in advance of next year’s national midterm election. It will be a referendum, after all, on the Trump presidency and congressional Republicans — who won power last year with the support of workers long deemed the sole domain of the Democratic Party. Yet, Colorado’s Legislature and Gov. Jared Polis decided to gut-punch Colorado workers, instead — by essentially taxing their hard-earned overtime wages. That provision was buried in an obscure, wide-ranging bill innocuously titled, “Tax Expenditure Adjustment,” which lawmakers passed this spring. Polis signed it into law in May. The state’s overtime tax is intended to offset fe...
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Colorado Springs firefighters respond to fire at Broadmoor Hotel
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Approved, Fox21, Local

Colorado Springs firefighters respond to fire at Broadmoor Hotel

By Norishka Pachot | Fox 21 News The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) and Broadmoor Fire responded to a fire at the Broadmoor Hotel in the early morning hours of Thursday, Dec. 26. At around 2:51 a.m., CSFD reported via X (formerly known as Twitter) that there was a fire in a closed outdoor pool cabana. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 21 NEWS
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Colorado Springs’ Randy Royal named IAFC Fire Chief of the Year
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Approved, KXRM-TV, Local

Colorado Springs’ Randy Royal named IAFC Fire Chief of the Year

By Austin Sack | Fox 21 Colorado Springs At the core of the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) is a group of people who love to serve the city, but every group needs a strong leader. The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has selected CSFD Fire Chief Randy Royal as the Career 2024 Fire Chief of the Year. Chief Royal was awarded the honor on Aug. 14 at the 2024 Fire-Rescue International Conference in Dallas, Texas. Since 1996, the International Fire Chief of the Year award has recognized one volunteer and one career fire chief for their leadership, innovation, professional development, integrity, public service, and contributions to the fire service on an international level. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 21 COLORADO SPRINGS
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Rural communities face critical firefighter shortage, in some cases, outlook is ‘bleak’
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Rural communities face critical firefighter shortage, in some cases, outlook is ‘bleak’

By Deborah Grigsby | Colorado Politics When Elizabeth Fire Chief T.J. Steck first entered the fire service more than 30 years ago, he was one of more than 2,000 applicants for just six full-time positions with Denver Fire. Competition was intense. That’s not the case now, Steck told members of the Colorado Wildfire Matters Review Committee on Tuesday.  “Now, fire departments across the Front Range are actually fighting each other for applicants and trying to poach from each other — because we don't have the number of applicants anymore,” he said. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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