Weld County Tire Fire

John Baker Photo ©

On July 22nd, 2020 around 17:30 Weld County Regional Communications Center (WCRCC) dispatched Platteville-Gilcrest Fire Protection District to a reported equipment on fire at the 12000 block of County Rd. 41. Engine 3601 advised of a large amount of smoke in the air and requested back fill from Frederick-Firestone Fire Protection District and upgraded the call with mutual-aid from Fort Lupton Fire Protection District & Hudson Fire Protection District for additional water tenders. Crews arrived to heavy smoke and fire coming from site equipment which had extended to a tire cell. First due crews went into command mode and did a 360 to determine rate of spread. Heavy equipment operators were called in to create a berm of dirt around the fire for containment. More departments with water tenders were called in for water shuttle operations and placed into staging. The fire was contained by the evening using heavy equipment operators, but continued to burn into the next day. Heavy equipment operators performed the lion share of the firefighting by using surrounding dirt to help keep the fire contained then progressed into the active fire for extinguishment. Platteville-Gilcrest fire crews patrolled the parameter monitoring for fire extension and spot fires. The fire was considered extinguished on July 24th, 2020 at 08:00 and was estimated to be approximately 7.5 acres. Additional information provided by Platteville-Gilcrest Fire Protection District

Platteville-Gilcrest: Command 3660, Command 3663, Staff 3671, Engine 3601, Engine 3602, Engine 3613 & Tender 3642

Fort Lupton: Engine 2602, Tender 2642 & Foam Trailer

Hudson: Command 2860, Ladder 2816 & Tender 2841

Frederick-Firestone: Command 3460

Southeast Weld Fire Protection District: Battalion 3961, Tender 3941, Utility 3952 & Foam Trailer

Galeton Fire Protection District: Battalion 2760 & Foam Trailer

Mountain View Fire Rescue: Engine 2207, Utility 2252 & Foam Trailer

Platte Valley Fire Protection District: Tender 3741

LaSalle Fire Protection District: Tender 3141

Front Range Fire Rescue: Brush 3932 & Tender 2941

Weld County Sheriff & Weld County Road and Bridge

Photo courtesy of Platteville-Gilcrest Fire Protection District