Longmont airport to host wildfire aviation training

LONGMONT — Vance Brand Municipal Airport in Longmont is hosting a major interagency wildfire preparedness exercise from Tuesday through April 30.

The Colorado Fire Aviation Summit, organized by the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control and the Colorado National Guard, will use the airport as a primary flight operations site for helicopter-based fire suppression training.

According to a news release from the City of Longmont, the goal of the training is to sharpen coordinated response and airspace management between federal, state and local agencies when fighting wildfires that cross jurisdictional boundaries.

Residents and businesses in neighborhoods surrounding the airport should expect to see and hear increased helicopter activity throughout the training period. The majority of flight operations are scheduled for Wednesday through Friday and April 28-30.

“Vance Brand Municipal Airport is excited to once again support this annual training,” Jenn Ooton, Longmont’s assistant city manager, said in a prepared statement. “This year’s training seems especially important considering the current dry conditions and increased fire danger throughout the state.”

The training exercises will include targeted aerial water delivery practice at three Front Range sites: Ralph Price Reservoir at Button Rock Preserve in Longmont, Chatfield State Park in Littleton, and Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in Commerce City. Temporary public safety closures will be in effect at Button Rock Preserve while aircraft are operating in the area. Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora will also serve as a base for training flights.

“Working with our partners to conduct this type of training is crucial,” Mike Morgan, director of the state Division of Fire Prevention and Control, said in the news release, “especially with the current and predicted conditions we are facing with the lack of snowpack this year. Wildfires know no boundaries. They cross between federal, tribal, state and private lands, making coordination between fire-management agencies a fundamental component of wildland firefighting.”

The City of Longmont will participate in the training alongside Boulder Fire-Rescue, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. In addition to flight operations, the summit includes classroom and academic training sessions at the Army Aviation Support Facility at Buckley Space Force Base.

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