Douglas County beefing up wildfire resources ahead of summer
New funding for the contract was approved in January 2025 and guarantees that Douglas County has round-the-clock access to the aerial firefighting tool for at least 168 days through December 31.
'There are many fires that the media never even hears about because of the ability of this contract, the ability of this equipment and the personnel that we have that can go at a moment's notice and fight these fires,' Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said.
According to Weekly, 66% of people living in Douglas County live in the wildland urban fire interface. The inherent risk is what led county commissioners to fund the helicopter and form the only locally-supported helitack team in Colorado.
DDPHE contacting people who may have been exposed to measles at DIA
'These teams can get into where other fire apparatus can't get to,' Weekly said.
Douglas County is also using a system of cameras equipped with artificial intelligence to alert wildfire teams to smoke, often before a fire is reported.
The technology comes from a company called Pano AI. They operate 12 cameras in Douglas County, which are funded by Xcel Energy and CORE Electric Cooperative.
The cameras constantly scan the horizon over a 10-mile range.
'If a smoke alert comes in, we'll load up into the helicopter and we'll fly to where the alert was,' Douglas County emergency services operator Brianna Smith said. 'We can get anywhere in the county within 15 minutes.'
Pano AI has more than 80 smoke-detecting cameras along Colorado's Front Range and in some mountain communities. They plan to install more than 150 additional cameras over the next several months.
'It's a huge improvement in public safety and protecting our homes, but more our people here in Douglas County,' Highlands Ranch resident Jim Wattenburger said.
Wattenburger worked in the wildland firefighting industry for 34 years before retiring in 2011. He is advocating for more areas of Colorado to follow in Douglas County's footsteps when it comes to firefighting technology.
'I was in command of two staffed fire lookouts,' he said. 'Now they've replaced the personnel in those lookouts with fire alert cameras to where they pick it up, and have coordinates. Things are so much more advanced that this technology is a real game changer,' Wattenburger said.
While the helicopter is specific to Douglas County, it will be available to respond to other areas of Colorado if needed.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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