EL PASO COUNTY — Looking at the aftermath of the Black Forest Fire ten years after it burned, many think of what burned.
Black Forest firefighters are also aware of what did not burn.
"We're still surrounded by a great deal of forest, and there's still a lot of forest that can burn," said Black Forest Fire Department Deputy Chief, Chris Piepenburg
While a fire is burning crews do the best they can with their current training and experience.
After it is over there is an unwanted yet excellent opportunity to learn and improve.
Beyond typical training for wildfires, Black Forest firefighters often go to help other fire departments dealing with large scale fire situations.
"We'll send them out on deployments to different areas of the country to get that experience and bring it back here hoping that we never have to use it in our district," said Piepenburg
The collaboration with other departments expands resources the department can call on for help if ever needed.
An important piece is working with state firefighting agencies.
"The state has numerous assets that we can use it if we get a fire,” said Piepenburg, “They have air tankers, they have a new helicopter, they have hand crews in the area--all we have to do is call for them."
Information for the Black Forest community is also essential.
The Black Forest Fire Department website is now a 24/7 real-time resource.
"Try to give our community the most up-to-date information that we can to help protect them from another Black Forest Fire," said Piepenburg
The most important part of improved wildfire strategies in Black Forest is getting locals to mitigate and be the frontline of prevention.
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