COLORADO SPRINGS — A string of April wildfires has the attention of fire bosses in Colorado.
“The fire danger for the southeast district is the highest in the state at the moment,” said Colorado Division of Wildfire Prevention and Control, Deputy District Chief, Devin Haynie.
Because of the current increased fire danger, two single-engine planes and a helicopter have been moved to the region.
“We've got the two [single engine tankers] based out of Pueblo. So, we have a retardant base set up in Pueblo,” said Haynie, “We also have our type two helicopter based out of Canon City.”
The positioning has resulted in air support getting to some wildfires within hours of them starting.
It is part of a wildfire “strategic playbook” created a few years back by a collaboration of Colorado public safety leaders.
The plan also includes increased and quicker mutual aid among Colorado’s firefighting agencies.
“We just want to make sure that we're getting everything there at the most appropriate time, the right resources, and really, that we're there to mitigate and put out that fire before it costs anything else,” said Captain Mike Smaldino with Colorado Springs Fire Department.
There is a cost for the extra prevention measures.
Bringing firefighters in for extra duty can cost close to $150 an hour for a typical team of four.
The supplemental amount for the trucks they provide can run in the range of $75 to $135 an hour commonly with charges for an eight-hour minimum.
Then there are the planes.
The cost for each water or fire-retardant drop by the small single engine tankers can cost between $2,500 to $5,000.
The cost goes up significantly for large tankers.
“The classic ones that everybody thinks about those ones cost anywhere between 30 to $45,000 per drop,” said Haynie.
It is a lot of money that is also considered an expense to counter a cost that could run into the tens, even hundreds of millions of dollars if a wildfire grows to devastating size.
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