Colorado § 29-22.5-102 - Definitions.

§ 29-22.5-102. Definitions.

As used in this article 22.5, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Director" means the director of the division of fire prevention and control.

(1.3) "Division" means the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety created in section 24-33.5-1201, C.R.S.

(1.5) "Fire department" has the same meaning as set forth in section 24-33.5-1202 (3.9).

(1.7) "Forest service" means the Colorado state forest service identified in section 23-31-302, C.R.S.

(2) "Incident commander" means the individual responsible for the overall management of the incident including developing incident objectives and managing all incident operations, by virtue of explicit legal, agency, or delegated authority.

(3) "Incident command system" means a standardized, on-scene, all-hazard incident management concept that is an integral part of the national incident management system.

(4) "Local incident management team" means a single or multi-agency team of capable individuals formed and managed at the local or county level and created or activated when necessary to provide the command and control infrastructure required to manage a major or complex incident requiring a significant number of local and mutual aid resources.

(5) "Mutual aid agreement" means a written agreement between or among federal, state, and local agencies in which the agencies agree to assist one another upon request by furnishing such resources as personnel and equipment.

(6) "National incident management system" or "NIMS" means the national command and management system developed by the U.S. department of homeland security. NIMS provides a unified approach to incident management; standard command and management structures; and emphasis on preparedness, mutual aid, and resource management.

(7) "Prescribed fire" means any fire ignited by federal, state, or local forest or land managers or private property owners to meet specific fire protection or mitigation objectives.

(8) "Unified command" means the incident commanders representing agencies or jurisdictions that share responsibility for the incident manage the response from a single incident command post, allowing agencies with different legal, geographic, and functional authorities and responsibilities to work together effectively without affecting individual agency authority, responsibility, or accountability.

(9) "Wildland area" means an area in which development is essentially nonexistent, except for roads, railroads, power lines, and similar infrastructure, and in which structures, if present, are widely scattered.

(10) "Wildland fire" means an unplanned or unwanted fire in a wildland area, including unauthorized human-caused fires, out-of-control prescribed fires, and all other fires in wildland areas where the objective is to extinguish the fire.

Source: L. 2009: Entire article added, (SB 09-020), ch. 189, p. 825, § 1, effective April 30. L. 2010: (2) and (3) amended, (HB 10-1422), ch. 419, p. 2118, § 161, effective August 11. L. 2013: (1) amended and (1.3) and (1.7) added, (HB 13-1300), ch. 316, p. 1693, § 93, effective August 7. L. 2017: IP and (1) amended, (SB 17-294), ch. 264, p. 1413, § 104, effective May 25. L. 2024: (1.5) added, (HB 24-1155), ch. 48, p. 170, § 3, effective August 7.