Pueblo West Brush Fire

Kyler Hewes Photo ©

While portions of Colorado got snow on March 27th, 2023 parts of southeast Colorado were under a Red Flag Warning. In the afternoon, Pueblo West Fire Department was dispatched to I-25 near mile marker 108 on a reported small brush fire. Original callers reported a small 10×10 fire but with gusty winds and low relative humidity levels the fire quickly spread. Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center was inundated with multiple 9-1-1 calls as the fire began to grow. Pueblo West fire requested mutual-aid from Pueblo County Sheriff Emergency Services Bureau (ESB) Fire Team in the form of brush trucks. Brush 863 and Chief 805 arrived on scene sizing up a three acre fire running to the east towards the railroad tracks. Due to the size and weather conditions a Type 6 strike team was requested from the west departments in the county. As units continued arriving on scene they began working on containment however a train stopped on the tracks without a crew was being threatened by the fire. The train had multiple tanker cars and two cars carrying lumber. Firefighters were able to make a great stop and kept the fire from spreading to the train. Units remained on scene for over three hours containing the fire and mopping up the hot spots. The fire was last estimated at 10+ acres. Several chiefs from Pueblo Fire staffed the fire desk at the EOC to assist with communications and logistics. Additional information provided by Code 4 Photography

Units on Scene:

Pueblo West: Chief 805, Brush 861, Brush 862 & Brush 863

ESB: Brush 164 & Tender 191

Beulah Fire Protection District: Chief 401 & Brush 461

Rye Fire Protection District: Brush 261

Pueblo Fire Department: Brush 68

West Park Volunteer Fire Department: Tender 593

Pueblo County Road and Bridge: Tanker 12 & Tanker 14

Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office & Colorado State Patrol