DENVER — Colorado's Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) told Denver7 Investigates the state's entire fleet of firefighting aircraft is being used to battle ongoing fires, except for one.
One of the state's two multi-mission aircraft (MMA), used to find and map ongoing fires, experienced a mechanical issue at Grand Junction Regional Airport on August 1, according to the agency.
"It's going to be down for an unknown period of time while we do some repair," said DFPC Chief Vaughn Jones.
Both MMAs were out of commission for days; however, the second one is expected to be back up by Friday afternoon to collect data and intelligence on fires, according to Jones.
Last month, Denver7 Investigates learned that the renowned Firehawk helicopter, which came into service in 2024, was out of commission for roughly two weeks in July due to required maintenance after hitting 500 hours of flight time.
"It's based on the hours and the use of the helicopter, and we do our best to schedule that around core fire activity," Jones said.
During those two weeks, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office responded to the Airport Fire and requested the Firehawk's help, but it was not available.
"While we realized it wasn't the best time, we cannot compromise safety or the long-term effectiveness of that aircraft. So, we did take it out of service," Jones said. "We brought in extra mechanics to do the work, and we were able to get that done quicker than we had planned."
Jones told Denver7 Investigates that required maintenance is budgeted for ahead of time. Rick Tillery, a public information officer with Mountain View Fire Rescue, explained that all equipment — big or small — requires maintenance.
"As we saw last year, on both the Stone Canyon fire and the Lake Shore Fire, we were up close and personal with those aviation resources," said Tillery, recounting multiple fires that broke out at the same time in an area with difficult terrain last summer.
Tillery said he "can't personally think of a time" that state aircraft were not available when the agency requested help.
"A lot of times, the firefighters will have to hike in there on foot, and when you have air assets coming in to help, it makes all the world of a difference," he said.
Colorado promised another Firehawk would be operable in 2025. Jones believes the aircraft will be delivered by the end of next week, and could be fighting fires as early as next month.
