The Waldo Canyon fire burns an entire neighborhood in near the foothills of Colorado Springs last June. Helen Richardson, The Denver Post
The push for Colorado to have its own aircraft fleet to fight raging wildfires moved forward Thursday, though funding could eventually place the effort in a holding pattern of sorts.
Senate Bill 245, sponsored by Sens. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, and Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge, would create a Colorado firefighting air corps (C-FAC) under the division of fire prevention and control in the state’s department of public safety. According to the bill’s fiscal note, it would cost Colorado about $30 million over the next three years just to get the effort started.
The fiscal note includes costs for three large air tankers and three tactical planes.
The bill passed unanimously out the Senate Judiciary committee Thursday and now moves on to the Senate Appropriations committee.
With limited money in the general fund, King and Jahn hope to look for grant money to help get the plan off the ground. The lawmakers are also exploring a collaboration with neighboring states to share potential aircraft.
In March, as the Galena fire raged in northwest Colorado, the two senators brought the bill to the forefront.
“It’s mid-March, and it’s clear with the dry weather and winds that wildfire season has begun,” King said at the time. “Colorado has to take charge of its own destiny on this front.”
The state currently counts on a fleet of U.S. Forest Service aircraft that, in the past decade, has grown significantly smaller and can be stationed in other states several hours away. The closest tanker to Colorado this weekend was in Missoula, Mont.
About 1,330 fires consumed 243,811 acres in Colorado last year, as fires raged in Western states from New Mexico to Washington, which were also in need of Forest Service air support.
California is the only state the country with its own air fleet to fight wildfires.
Follow Kurtis on Twitter: @kurtisalee