Northwest team with Central Oregon ties deployed to Colorado’s Elk Fire

CENTRAL OREGON (KTVZ) -- Colorado is leaning on national support as roughly eight wildfires burn across the state, including several among the largest in its history. Crews there are working to contain fires like Aspen Acres and Ferris, both now listed among Colorado’s top 10 biggest recorded wildfires as hot, dry conditions persist.

In northern Colorado, the Fishhook Fire and Green Ridge Fire are actively burning near Steamboat Springs and Stagecoach Reservoir in Routt County, prompting evacuations and heavy response on the ground and in the air. At the same time, the Elk Fire in western Colorado continues to grow, forcing pre‑evacuation notices for communities in Hinsdale and Gunnison counties and drawing in national incident management support.

While Oregon’s State Fire Marshal says no Oregon fire departments — including Central Oregon agencies — have been mobilized to Colorado, at least one Northwest incident management team with Central Oregon ties is now deploying. Public Affairs Director John Hendricks told KTVZ News, “We have not mobilized any resources to Colorado.”

Public information officer Jodie Schiffman, a primary member of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group representing the International Association of Fire Chiefs, says Northwest Team Eight is being sent to Gunnison, on the western side of Colorado, to assist with the Elk Fire. The team is one of several complex incident management teams that normally cover Oregon and Washington but can be called to other regions when additional support is needed.

Schiffman describes the team as interagency, made up of people with backgrounds across multiple wildfire organizations, including the Deschutes National Forest, Oregon Department of Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Instead of deploying a single local department, this kind of assignment brings together experienced wildfire managers, public information officers and operations leaders under one coordinated structure.

On the Elk Fire, that Northwest team is tasked with helping set strategy and working closely with local emergency managers. Schiffman says their work ranges from helping manage flight restrictions and air operations to sending public information staff into nearby communities, coordinating evacuation levels and supporting firefighters working in the air and on the ground in what officials emphasize must be a safe and effective way.

KTVZ’s Tracee Tuesday is continuing to ask national wildfire leaders whether Central Oregon fire agencies could be called up in the coming days as Colorado’s wildfire season intensifies, and how Northwest teams are being used to support incidents like the Elk Fire.