LITTLETON- High in the sky, the Colorado National Guard helicopter made its way to its target on the ground. It was carrying a massive amount of water, which could potentially tamp down on the flames of a fire.
"This is our fire perimeter here," said David Zader, the wildland fire administrator for the City of Boulder Fire Department.
Multiple fire agencies and departments spent the weekend working with the Colorado National Guard on a wildfire training exercise near Chatfield Reservoir. They are working on communication between ground crews and those up in choppers. They used an area marked off in orange to simulate where the helicopters needed to dump 600 gallons of water.
"We have to develop those skills with both the pilots and the ground resources," Zader said.
For fire crews, their main goals are to protect people, properties and keep themselves safe.
"Our main tactic is to anchor, flank and pinch and we may, just because, if this is just forested land out here, or has no value, or little value, as opposed to say structures, we'll often times let one side of the fire burn while we focus on another," Zader said.
It's hard to predict what a fire season might bring, which is why they say it makes their training beforehand, all the more important.
"It's a huge state and we can have different conditions in different areas of the state," said Michael DiCristina of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. "Indicators are showing that we're in a similar weather pattern than we were in 2012, which was a bad fire year, but that's not really anything I would take to the bank because anything can happen. Fire is always unpredictable."
Firefighters and wildland specialists say now, before the start of the summer fire season, is a good time for homeowners to make sure their properties are properly landscaped and wildfire resistant. For more information and tips on how to do this, go to www.wildlandfirersg.org
(KUSA-TV © 2015 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)
