Multiple state agencies took to the sky Sunday morning to learn how to fight wildfires from up above.
Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control teams up with the Colorado National Guard and a couple of local fire departments every year to make this training happen.
Brendan Young, an instructor pilot with the Colorado National Guard, still remembers the first time he saw a wildfire from a helicopter.
“It’s really intimidating,” Young said.
An intimidating sight they fortunately didn’t see on Sunday. Instead, the Boulder Fire Rescue Department put together a convincing simulation.
“Everything is as real as can be, except actual fire on the ground,” said Erin Doyle, wildfire operations specialist for Boulder Fire.
The goal is for crews to be prepared for the real thing when the time comes. Doyle calls training like this increasingly necessary.