{"id":34021,"date":"2023-05-15T16:48:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T22:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-moves-away-from-rented-aircraft-to-fight-wildfires\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:15:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:15:38","slug":"colorado-moves-away-from-rented-aircraft-to-fight-wildfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-moves-away-from-rented-aircraft-to-fight-wildfires\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado moves away from rented aircraft to fight wildfires"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Colorado's
Colorado's new Firehawk helicopter. It can fly faster than 150 mph and quickly slurp up and deploy up to 1,000 gallons of water. Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

CENTENNIAL AIRPORT \u2013 Colorado is doubling down on its push to rely less on rented aircraft to fight wildfires with the purchase of a second helicopter capable of quickly crisscrossing the state to detect and douse flames.<\/p>\n

Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Friday allocating $26 million to buy another \u201cFirehawk,\u201d a converted version of the military\u2019s ubiquitous Black Hawk helicopter. The Firehawk\u2019s top speed is about 160 mph and it can quickly slurp up and drop 1,000 gallons of water.<\/p>\n

When fires aren\u2019t burning, the helicopter can be deployed on search and rescue missions.<\/p>\n

Right now, Colorado has no operational, state-owned aircraft that can drop water and retardant on fires. Instead, it relies on contracts with private aerial firefighting companies to respond to blazes across the state.<\/p>\n

Some of those air resources are pooled regionally, meaning that the rented helicopters and airplanes serve multiple states at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"Colorado's
Colorado's new Firehawk helicopter. It can fly faster than 150 mph and quickly slurp up and deploy up to 1,000 gallons of water. Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

But that\u2019s become an issue as climate change causes dangerously dry conditions across the Western U.S. In 2020, for instance, when Colorado had the three largest wildfires in its history, the state struggled to secure the aircraft it needed because there were also fires burning in New Mexico, California and several other states.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to be able to control our aerial capacity,\u201d Polis said before signing Senate Bill 161 at Centennial Airport hangar beside Colorado\u2019s first Firehawk, a hulking chopper painted red and white and emblazoned in the state logo. \u201cWe do some of that through contract work. But we can also do it, which is a lot better value for taxpayers on an ongoing basis, by purchasing some equipment that is good for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

State fire officials estimated earlier this year that it would cost about $2.5 million annually for an additional 150-day contract for a large air tanker, such as a British Aerospace 146. The Firehawk will operate year-round, though the state will have to hire and pay pilots and is responsible for the choppers\u2019 maintenance.<\/p>\n

The first Firehawk is expected to go into service in the coming weeks once testing and finishing touches are complete. The second chopper could be ready to go as soon as next summer.<\/p>\n

The helicopters join two single-engine Pilatus PC-12s in Colorado\u2019s aerial firefighting fleet. But those planes can only track blazes, not put them out.<\/p>\n

Other states have much larger wildfire-fighting aircraft fleets.<\/p>\n

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, for instance, owns a fleet of more than 50 aircraft, including a mix of airplanes and helicopters. Reuters reports that a Cal Fire aircraft can reach most fires within 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources owns nine helicopters that battle fires. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources also owns a number of wildfire-fighting planes.<\/p>\n

Polis said his administration doesn\u2019t have plans to buy more Firehawks or other firefighting aircraft in the near future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always going to analyze cost benefit,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to make sure that we have the air support we need when we have a fire \u2013 and then we\u2019re going to look at the most efficient way to get that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Firehawks are expected to be in service for upward of three decades, though they do require a lot of maintenance.<\/p>\n

Mike Morgan, who leads the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, said the Firehawk is the most versatile tool the state could have purchased. It doesn\u2019t need to return to an airport after dropping water on flames like a fixed-wing plane. The helicopter can simply dip its snorkel in a pond or pool and quickly fill up for its next drop.<\/p>\n

Another plus: It has an external water tank instead of carrying a bucket, meaning it can fly over homes and roadways that otherwise must be evacuated when other, bucket-wielding firefighting helicopters are in use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is probably the best tool in the toolbox we can ask for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The first Firehawk will be stationed at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Jefferson County, though it can be moved around the state and positioned in areas that are forecast to have high fire danger. It\u2019s unclear where the second chopper will be based.<\/p>\n

Read more at The Colorado Sun<\/div>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

now, Colorado has no operational, state-owned aircraft that can drop water and retardant on fires<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-34021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82447,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34021\/revisions\/82447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34021"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=34021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}