Wildland Firefighting + Response — Colorado National Monument

Living in the west, fire is a natural, and largely inevitable, part of summer. While none of us like smoke-filled skies and some of the quickly moving conflagrations of recent years have been horrifying, fire is a natural process that can be beneficial.

Photos courtesy of National Park Service

So what happens when fire strikes a beloved landscape, say a national park, or closer to home — the Colorado National Monument (COLM)?

In the late spring of 2023, following an early evening thunderstorm, my father and I decided to drive across the Monument on Rim Rock Road to check out the riotous spring wildflowers. The rain had stopped, but the roads were damp and the clouds were heavy. Coming around a bend on top of the Monument, we saw smoke, then wildland fire trucks parked along the road, then firefighters with shovels hiking out to a point above the rough canyons below to put out a lightning strike fire.

We immediately had questions. How do firefighters know when a fire has ignited? How do they determine a response? How do they decide which fires to fight? And finally, what does the public need to know about wildland firefighting and how to help?

Armed with these questions I contacted the communications team at COLM and they answered them, drawing upon the expertise of Brant Porter, a National Park Service (NPS) fire communication and education specialist in the NPS Intermountain Regional Office, and Mike Guarino, the fire management officer for the NPS Northwest Colorado fire zone, which includes COLM. Guarino is based near Dinosaur National Monument.

TRACKING LIGHTNING + FIRES

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), Colorado receives over 500,000 lightning strikes per year and these are carefully tracked. However, not every strike becomes a fire. Factors such as location, the availability of fuel and weather have a big influence on whether or not a fire starts. Think of a red-flag warning: these are notifications put out by the NWS on hot, dry, windy days that are known to be ripe for fire. Fires that start on these days may require a different response than those that begin on rainy or cool days.

Rather than reacting to every strike within a park or on public lands, wildland fire response focuses on reported fires and smoke. When fire or smoke is identified, often via a 911 call, crews evaluate the situation. If a fire is found, they take action, which includes investigating the cause of each fire.

The vast majority of wildfires — an average of 87% per year — are caused by humans near roads and communities and in recreation areas, according to the NPS.

APPROPRIATE RESPONSE

When it comes to wildland fire response, there are two important things to know about the Grand Valley and the COLM.

First, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has a robust firefighting presence in our area, and the BLM-Grand Junction Field Office takes the lead on responding to fires on the Monument.

Second, COLM actually sees very few fires. According to Porter, over the last three years, 12 fires burned a total of 2.1 acres on the Monument. And all of these fires were caused naturally.

When a fire is reported, the BLM, together with COLM staff including park managers and law enforcement, actively respond. If a fire needs additional resources, NPS firefighters and managers will be deployed from within the park’s fire management zone.

The decision about whether or not to control a fire, and how aggressively to respond, depends upon planning. Detailed firefighting plans are in place for public lands, including those managed by the NPS. These plans specify areas in which fires can safely and beneficially burn, as well as areas of significant value that need to be protected.

In some areas, explains Porter, the appropriate response might be to monitor a lightning strike fire, while in others full suppression is necessary to protect cultural and natural resources, buildings and people. And the response can vary within one fire.

“On one side of a fire, we might be aggressively putting line in to move the fire one way, with crews actively working to suppress the fire. On another side of a fire, where the park runs into wilderness, we might take a lighter approach using natural features where fire can be beneficial,” he says.

Reinforcing the importance of planning, Guarino emphasizes that fire conditions can shift as rapidly as the wind, and fire managers need to be prepared to change course when, for example, “conditions make letting it burn too dangerous.” For any fire that extends beyond an initial attack, public lands fire managers utilize the Wildland Fire Decision Support System, which is undergirded by maps, specified trigger points, fire behavior analysis, and current and predicted weather.

Slash piles are ignited following a thinning project at Colorado National Monument. Firefighters regularly burn piles of thinned vegetation during periods of low fire danger to reduce hazardous fuels near developed areas, manage landscapes and achieve ecological benefits.

And while fire can be wily and sometimes unpredictable, Guarino underlines its importance to a healthy, natural landscape.

“Fire has been a part of our natural landscape for so long and it’s been suppressed for a long time,” states Guarino. “Now we’re seeing the negative aspects of this. It’s a balancing game that we constantly play as managers. We want to get good fire back on the landscape, but it’s becoming harder and harder with a change in fuels, climate and more people in the urbanrural interface.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

“If you see something, say something,” says Porter. If you see smoke or flames — and it’s not a prescribed burn — call 911 and be prepared to specifically describe what you are seeing.

“It’s a fine line,” he adds. “We want to be good partners with the dispatch folks and not flood them with calls. But in Western Colorado, especially on Red Flag warning days with nasty high fire conditions, have your radar up and err on the side of caution. Early reporting can keep fires small.”

Guarino adds that for prescribed burns, the Park Service will set up signs along major roads, issue press releases so that the media can let the public know, and have information on individual park websites. If you think a burn might be intentional, check the website before calling 911.

Recreating responsibly is also important. When fire conditions are high, even something as inadvertent as a chain dragging from a car can start a fire. Knowing the weather forecast, current fire conditions and public land regulations before you go can help you make safe decisions about what activities, if any, are appropriate on a given day.

Check the West Slope Fire Info website (westslopefireinfo.com) for fire restriction updates. The website also has fire season health tips and the latest fire news for Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Mesa, Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel counties.

Other basic tips for responsible recreation: Check in at the trailhead. Let others know where you are going. And plan an escape route when conditions are such that a fire could begin and spread rapidly.

“More than anything” Porter adds, “when you live in the western United States, recognize that fire is part of our environment. Have a plan and be prepared to live around it, recreate around it and be respectful.”

Originally published in the Summer 2024 issue of Spoke+Blossom.