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Bill Detail: HB24-1155

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Title Management of Certain Public Safety Emergencies
Status Governor Signed (04/04/2024)
Bill Subjects
  • Local Government
  • State Government
House Sponsors E. Velasco (D)
Senate Sponsors L. Cutter (D)
House Committee Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources
Senate Committee Agriculture and Natural Resources
Date Introduced 01/30/2024
Summary

Current law regarding the authority over wildland fires is not
aligned with current practice for managing wildland fires in the state. The
bill aligns the statutes that address the management of wildland fires with
current practice.
Transfer of wildland fire management from a fire response
agency to the county sheriff. Current law specifies that a fire protection
district may transfer the management of a wildland fire to the county
sheriff (sheriff) when the fire exceeds the fire chief of a fire protection
district's (fire chief) capability to manage, but does not contemplate such
transfer by a municipal fire department, volunteer fire department, fire
authority, or other fire response agency. To specify the authority of all fire
response agencies to transfer the management of a wildland fire to the
sheriff, the bill authorizes a fire department, as currently defined in law,
to transfer the management of a wildland fire and repeals references to
transfers by a fire protection district.
In addition, current law allows a sheriff to develop a wildfire
preparedness plan for the unincorporated area of a county in cooperation
with any fire district with jurisdiction over the unincorporated area. The
bill specifies that the sheriff may also develop such plan in cooperation
with any fire department with jurisdiction over the unincorporated area.
Management of wildland fires subject to the provisions of
relevant plans or agreements. Current law specifies that the duties of
the sheriff and the fire chief are subject to the community wildfire
protection plan (CWPP). However, the CWPP addresses the identification
and reduction of hazards and is not focused on the response to or
management of wildland fires. The bill repeals references to the CWPP
in the statutes that address the response to and management of wildland
fires and specifies that the sheriff and the fire chief are subject to any
relevant plans or agreements.
Management strategy when a wildland fire has been
transferred to the state. Current law specifies that when a sheriff
transfers the management of a wildland fire to the division of fire
prevention and control in the department of public safety (division), the
division is required to use unified command, which is a management
strategy that uses multiple incident commanders with shared objectives.
This requirement does not allow the division and the sheriff to determine
the most appropriate management strategy for each wildland fire. The bill
repeals the requirement that the division and the sheriff use unified
command when a wildland fire has been transferred to the division.
Management strategy for hazardous substance incident
response. In addition, current law requires that unified command be used
in the response to a hazardous substance incident, which does not allow
responding agencies to determine the most appropriate response to and
management of such an incident. The bill repeals the requirement that
unified command be used in a hazardous substance incident.
Use of the current incident command system for wildland fire
management. Current law requires a sheriff to appoint a local incident
management team to provide command and control to manage a wildland
fire. However, a sheriff, the fire department, or the state may instead
assign an incident commander or a non-local incident management team
to manage the fire. The bill repeals the requirement that a sheriff appoint
a local incident management team and instead requires the sheriff to
appoint an incident commander for a wildland fire. In addition, the bill
specifies that the agency that has jurisdiction over any wildland fire in the
state is required to manage the fire using the incident command system as
currently defined in law.
References to the state emergency operations plan in wildland
fire response and suppression statutes. Current law specifies that the
division is the lead state agency for wildland fire suppression as identified
in the Colorado state emergency operations plan (SEOP) and in
accordance with the Colorado state forest service statute. However, the
SEOP can only be activated by an executive order and does not apply to
the majority of wildland fire operations or the majority of assistance and
support that the division provides to local agencies. In addition, the
reference to the state forest service is no longer accurate. The bill repeals
references to the SEOP and the state forest service in the statute
designating the division as the lead state agency for wildland fire
response and suppression.

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