The tragic wildland fire that ripped through Fourmile Canyon this week has taken peoples' homes and possessions. Some of those affected are the very firefighters who protected the community and saved many structures, but sadly lost their homes. Boulder Emergency Squad provided temporary housing for a few of those firefighters affected and continues to support the community relief effort with their volunteer rescuers.
(Boulder, Colorado). September 12, 2010 -- Trained emergency rescuers from Boulder Emergency Squad-B.E.S. responded this past Monday in the opening moments of the Fourmile Canyon Fire to assist with evacuations, road closures, and manage apparatus staging for the incoming fire departments. After the first 30 hours, it became evident that the fire was taking a toll on fellow emergency responders who live in the fire area as well as other citizens. B.E.S. helped immediately by housing displaced firefighters and continues to provide whatever help is necessary to support the recovery effort.
Beyond emergency rescue, B.E.S. volunteers assisted with community relief efforts. Mike Chard, Manager for the Boulder [City and County] Office of Emergency Management was keen on having B.E.S. on board to manage community relief and support activities. "B.E.S. was instrumental in getting the infrastructure in place that was essential at a time when we needed it most", said Chard. "Without B.E.S. and their organizational skills, our advanced community support system would have been delayed."
On Friday the team created and set up the donation reception centers and today the team setup the traffic control pattern to allow evacuees to safely and efficiently obtain the credentials necessary to begin returning to their homes. B.E.S. members were also involved in spearheading efforts to raise money for firefighters who lost their homes and fire departments who lost stations.
In addition, B.E.S. received requests for JointFire to provide practice wildland shelters to help train utility workers returning to the burn zone for repairs. "We are here for the community whether that be for performing emergency rescue or for critical community support activities as we did this weekend", said Chief Andrew Moschetti - "Those affected are people many of us know personally and departments that we train and work with, so this hit us hard. I could not be more proud of the over 30 members we had that unselfishly stepped up to help our community in need."
Our thoughts go out to our neighbors who suffered loss this week.
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About Boulder Emergency Squad:B.E.S. is an all volunteer, non-profit 501c.3 technical rescue teamserving the County of Boulder, Colorado. BES provides a number of technical rescue services at no charge including underwater dive rescue, swift water creek rescue, vehicle extrication, low-angle evacuations, animal rescue, wildland fire fighting, structural fire support, and is a trained staffing resource for the Boulder County Sheriff's Department. B.E.S. is incorporated since 1964.
Contact: Andrew M. Amalfitano
Public Information OfficerBoulder Emergency Squad303-443-4081 http://www.bes-rescue.org
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