PAGOSA SPRINGS - Today, Governor Polis verbally declared a disaster emergency to support response efforts for the Oak Fire in Pagosa Springs, Archuleta County, Colorado. The Governor has also authorized use of the National Guard as needed to support the incident.
The Oak Fire is burning West of Pagosa Springs north of State Highway 160, in the Elk Park/Ironwood subdivision. The incident escalated rapidly, exceeding local Fire Department and County capacity, and the Sheriff requested that the Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) approve the incident as a State Responsibility fire. Besides local, county, and federal agencies, DFPC, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM), and Colorado State Patrol are all assisting in some capacity.
With the disaster declaration, the State Emergency Operations and Resource Mobilization Plans are activated and DHSEM coordinates the state response through management of the State Emergency Operations Center and deployment of field operations staff to directly support county emergency managers with consequence management. DFPC is leading the incident management and suppression efforts in conjunction with the other Department of Public Safety Divisions.
###