DENVER — A global pandemic and Colorado’s multiple wildfires mean the state’s emergency operations center has been active for 170 days and counting.
Like many of us in the time of coronavirus, it also means the dreaded Zoom call after Zoom call after Zoom call.
“The folks that are in there are constantly in communication with at least 70, 100 other folks at any given time,” said Micki Trost, the strategic communications director for the Colorado Emergency Operations Center. “We are constantly on Google Meet calls or Zoom calls, conference calls, so that we can get the information we need, the resources to either the fires or to the public health agencies when they need it.”
Despite disaster declarations for both the novel coronavirus and Cameron Peak Fire, only six people are actually allowed in the emergency operations center at a time because of social distancing guidelines.
> Watch the video above for the latest on wildfires burning across Colorado.
And, with multiple wildfires causing evacuations amid concerns about COVID-19, the team has to figure out where to send people during the pandemic, since close quarters aren’t a safe option.
“Right now, the non-congregate sheltering means that we are looking at people being set up in hotel rooms or they can go to an evacuation point and they stay in their cars, they get the services individually to their cars, or go to a campground and get the services there,” Trost said. “It just depends on the length of the evacuation for each of the fires.”
As of this writing, there are four major fires burning in Colorado: the Cameron Peak fire 60 miles west of Fort Collins, the Williams Fork Fire 15 miles northwest of Fraser, the Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon and the Pine Gulch Fire 18 miles north of Grand Junction.
SUGGESTED VIDEO: Full Episodes of Next with Kyle Clark