Quarry Fire in Colorado – Fire Aviation

Tim Russell sent us this photo of the State of Colorado Firehawk after collecting water from Chatfield Reservoir, with a CL-415 scooping in the background. 

The Denver Post reported that Gov. Jared Polis has deployed Colorado National Guard troops to the Quarry, Stone Canyon, and Alexander Mountain fires. He said they’ll help with logistics, road closures, and other tasks to free up fire officials and firefighters.

The four fires along Colorado’s Front Range have burned thousands of acres, killed one person, and destroyed at least six buildings. As of Wednesday night, they’d evacuated thousands of people and burned over 9,500 acres.

In Oregon, meanwhile, 33 major wildfires have burned well over a million acres, according to a KGW-TV report.

Today four Colorado lawmakers asked NIFC to send more resources to the state.

U.S. Reps. Brittany Pettersen and Joe Neguse and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper asked fire officials to help Colorado get more hand crews as soon as possible plus any available engines, incident management teams, or aviation resources.

“We understand the pressures facing our wildland firefighting workforce, as wildfires rage all across the western United States and continue to threaten many of our communities,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter [PDF] to headquarters. “Existing resources are stretched thin to meet those demands … Time is of the essence to save lives and homes.”

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