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The Colorado National Guard was activated Friday afternoon to help in the battle against wildfires in Colorado. Gov. Jared Polis verbally authorized the guard assist the State Emergency Operations Center and incident commanders fighting wildfires, according to a news release. A Colorado Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter aircrew is on standby at the High-Altitude Army National Guard Training Site in Gypsum. The helicopter and its crew can provide a search and rescue capability to incident commanders if needed. Members of the high-altitude training site have helped rescue almost 500 people in Colorados mountains since the unit inception in 1986, the release said. Whether its the fight against COVID or the fight against drought-induced wildfires, Colorados National Guard is ready to rise to the challenge to help our communities, said Gov. Polis, in the release. We are thankful to the Guardsmen and women for their support during this challenging time. State emergency officials have requested about 30 national guard soldiers to help around the clock with traffic control in Larimer County where the Cameron Peak fire is burning. We are always ready, always there to assist our local and state partners during these challenging times, said U. S. Army Brig. Gen. Laura Clellan, in the release. The guards mobile testing and training teams can provide COVID-19 tests to firefighters.
