Colorado § 29-22.5-103 - Wildland fires - general authority and responsibilities.

§ 29-22.5-103. Wildland fires - general authority and responsibilities.

(1) (a) The chief of the fire department is responsible for the management of wildland fires that occur within the jurisdictional boundaries of the chief's department and that are within the capability of the fire department to control or extinguish in accordance with the provisions of section 32-1-1002 (3)(a).

(b) The fire chief may utilize mutual aid agreements with neighboring fire departments to suppress and control fires that cross or threaten to cross jurisdictional boundaries.

(c) The fire chief may transfer any duty or responsibility the fire chief may assume under this section to the county sheriff with the concurrence of the sheriff.

(d) The fire chief shall not seek reimbursement from the county for expenses incurred by the district for their own apparatus, equipment, and personnel used in containing or suppressing a wildfire occurring on private property within the boundaries of the district, except as provided in section 30-10-513 (3)(b).

(2) (a) The sheriff is the fire warden of the county and is responsible for the planning for, and the coordination of, efforts to suppress wildfires occurring in the unincorporated area of the county outside the boundaries of a fire department or that exceed the capabilities of the fire department to control or extinguish in accordance with the provisions of section 30-10-513.

(b) In the case of a wildfire that exceeds the capabilities of the fire department to control or extinguish and that requires mutual aid and outside resources, the sheriff shall appoint an incident commander to provide the command and control infrastructure required to manage the fire. The sheriff shall assume financial responsibility for fire fighting efforts on behalf of the county and the authority for the ordering and monitoring of resources.

(c) In the case of a wildfire that exceeds the capability of the county to control or extinguish, the sheriff is responsible for seeking the assistance of the state, by requesting assistance from the division. The sheriff and the director shall enter into an agreement concerning the transfer of authority and responsibility for fire suppression and the retention of responsibilities.

(3) (a) The division is the lead state agency for wildland fire response and suppression.

(b) The forest service may provide land management and the division may provide wildland fire management services to other state agencies by means of memoranda of understanding or related forms of cooperative agreements.

(c) In case of a wildland fire that exceeds the capability of the county to control or extinguish, the division may assist the sheriff in controlling or extinguishing such fires, and may assume command of such incidents with the concurrence of the sheriff.

(d) At the request of the sheriff, the division may assist in the development or modification of the county wildfire preparedness plan.

(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and subject to the provisions of any local or regional mutual aid agreements or plans for wildland fire response, the first emergency response agency to arrive at the scene of a wildland fire, regardless of whether the incident occurs within its jurisdiction, shall act as incident commander and be responsible for the initial emergency action necessary to control the wildland fire or to protect life or property until the emergency response agency that has jurisdiction over the incident site arrives.

(5) The agency that has jurisdiction over any wildland fire in the state shall manage the fire using the incident command system.

Source: L. 2009: Entire article added, (SB 09-020), ch. 189, p. 826, § 1, effective April 30. L. 2013: (2)(c) and (3) amended, (HB 13-1300), ch. 316, p. 1693, § 94, effective August 7. L. 2022: (1)(d) amended, (SB 22-002), ch. 339, p. 2442, § 5, effective June 3. L. 2024: (1)(a), (1)(b), (2), (3)(a), and (3)(c) amended and (5) added (HB 24-1155), ch. 48, p. 170, § 4, effective August 7.