As of Tuesday, Aug. 12, the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) has several members of the Wildland Team deployed to assist with the wildfires burning on the Western Slope, including the Lee and Elk Fires near Meeker and the Turner Gulch Fire in Mesa County.

When a 60,000-acre wildfire is breathing down the neck of a small northwestern Colorado town, the locals don’t freeze. The follow their first instinct — to jump into action to protect