Wildland Fire Planning

C.R.S. tit. 29, art. 22.5
in effect

C.R.S. § 29-22.5-101 Legislative declaration

29-22.5-101. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that: (a) Wildland fires, especially fires occurring in wildland-urban interface areas, pose a serious threat to life, property, critical infrastructure, and the environment; (b) A systematic, proactive approach to the management of wildland fire incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity, is needed in order to protect life, property, critical infrastructure, and the environment; (c) The national incident management system provides a consistent, nationwide template enabling federal, state, tribal, and local governments, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together to prepare for, prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of all incidents regardless of type, cause, size, location, or complexity, and should be the foundation for the management of wildland fire incidents; (d) The development of a county wildland fire plan, in cooperation among the sheriff, the fire chiefs, and the board of county commissioners of the county and based on the resource capabilities specific to the county, will assist in clarifying the roles and responsibilities of local emergency response agencies, in the management of wildland fire incidents and, for these reasons, the development of such a plan is encouraged; (e) Many of the elements of a county wildland fire plan may already exist in community wildfire protection plans, other county fire plans, county all-hazards preparedness plans, or annual operating plans, and these elements should be brought together, in cooperation between the sheriff and the fire chiefs of the county, into a county wildland fire plan; and (f) The provisions of this article are intended to clarify and identify specific state and local roles, responsibilities, and authorities for managing prairie, forest, or wildland fire incidents that range from the small scale local to large scale multi-jurisdictional or catastrophic fires in order to protect life, property, critical infrastructure, and the environment.

C.R.S. § 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.

C.R.S. § 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.

C.R.S. § 29-22.5-104 County wildfire preparedness plan

29-22.5-104. County wildfire preparedness plan. (1) The sheriff of each county may develop and update as necessary a wildfire preparedness plan for the unincorporated area of the county in cooperation with any fire district or department with jurisdiction over such unincorporated area. Any such plan shall: (a) Identify all participants in the plan and their wildland fire roles and responsibilities, including their jurisdictional boundaries, their fiscal and operational authority and responsibilities, a general description of their wildland fire response capabilities, and incident command structure; (b) Describe available emergency response resources and mutual aid and other agreements related to the plan; (c) Describe the procedures for cooperation and coordination between or among federal, state, county, and local emergency response authorities; and (d) Specify reimbursement and billing procedures. (2) It is recognized that many of the elements described in subsection (1) of this section may already exist in community wildfire protection plans, other county fire plans, county all-hazards preparedness plans, or annual operating plans, and these elements could be integrated, in cooperation among the sheriff, the fire chiefs, and the board of county commissioners of the county, into a county wildland fire plan. (3) The plan developed pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall be agreed to by all participants in the plan to the extent practicable. (4) The authorization to develop a wildfire preparedness plan pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall not be construed to require the sheriff to provide and maintain the capability for the response. The sheriff may provide and maintain response capability as described in the plan directly or through mutual aid or other agreements. (5) At the request of the sheriff, the division may assist in the development or updating of the county wildfire preparedness plan pursuant to subsection (1) of this section. (6) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the provisions of section 30-15-401.7, C.R.S., or the community wildfire protection plan developed pursuant to such section.

C.R.S. § 29-22.5-105 Reporting controlled burns - short title - definitions

29-22.5-105. Reporting controlled burns - short title - definitions. (1) The short title of this section is the "Darcy's Last Call Act". (2) As used in this section: (a) (I) "Controlled burn" means, for purposes of this section only and as intentionally started on private property that is not classified as agricultural land, as that term is defined in section 39-1-102 (1.6)(a), the following types of burning: (A) A burn used as a technique in farming or livestock production or for other purposes to clear the land of existing native vegetation or crop residue or to kill weeds and weed seeds; (B) A controlled ditch burn as set forth in section 24-33.5-1202 (3.4); except that "controlled burn" does not mean a burn involving an irrigation ditch; (C) Noncommercial burning of trash; and (D) Open burning of slash piles, as "open burning" and "slash" are defined in section 30-15-401 (1)(n.5)(V). (II) "Controlled burn" does not mean open burning lawfully conducted in the course of agricultural operations as set forth in section 18-13-109 (2)(b)(I). (b) "Fire department" means the duly authorized fire protection organization of a town, city, county, or city and county, a fire protection district, or a metropolitan district or county improvement district that provides fire protection. "Fire department" also includes volunteer fire departments organized under section 24-33.5-1208.5. (3) Before any person conducts a controlled burn, the person must provide notice of the controlled burn in accordance with local rules and regulations or, where no local rules and regulations exist, to the local dispatch center, the county sheriff, and where applicable to the fire department providing services to the area where the private property is located. In the notice required by this subsection (3), the person conducting the controlled burn must provide the date, time, and location where the controlled burn will be conducted, and contact information for the person responsible for the controlled burn. The fire department may determine that fire department personnel must be on standby at the time of the controlled burn for it to be conducted. (4) Nothing in this section exempts a person from complying with any other applicable local, state, or federal laws.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-29.docxFetched: 10/6/2026

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