Coordinated firefighting effort pays off
By Lynn Volkens
Gilpin County escaped potential wildfire disaster last week, thanks to the work of firefighters and several other factors that fell into place at the time. The Dakota Hill fire, located on National Forest land, about four miles west of mile marker 10.5 on Highway 119, was discovered the evening of June 24, 2013, when an unnamed citizen called in a smoke sighting shortly after 6 p.m. According to the Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were first on the scene. Personnel from the U.S. Forest Service and Timberline, Central City, Black Hawk and Nederland fire departments responded. Timberline fire chief, Chris Jennings reckoned there were at least 15 various fire trucks and 40 firefighters on scene within the first half hour. He said there was a good line of vision to the fire from Timberline’s Station 2 (448 Pine Drive) so a joint command base was set up there with a unified command consisting of personnel from the Forest Service, Gilpin Sheriff’s Office and Timberline Fire Protection District to coordinate firefighting efforts.
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