Wildfire – The Durango Herald

As drought and wind plague Southwest Colorado, one family finds too much water

Creeks and rivers are rising fast from snowmelt, creating hazardous conditions

DATE: May 9, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Fire-ravaged New Mexico villages cling to faith, ‘querencia’

Eileen Celestina Garcia raced down the mountain that overlooks her parents’ ranch home in northern New Mexico where friends and family have gathered for decades and where she has sat countl...

DATE: May 8, 2022 | CATEGORY: New Mexico

N.M. governor to the feds: Stop igniting prescribed burns in windy, dry conditions

Hermits Peak Fire was set April 6 and quickly grew out of control because of ‘unexpected erratic winds in the late afternoon’

DATE: May 3, 2022 | CATEGORY: New Mexico

Animas City Mountain prescribed burn delayed

Dry and windy weather will likely postpone the preventive measures until at least fall

DATE: May 3, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bulldozers, aircraft used to fight fire near New Mexico city

More than 1,000 firefighters backed by bulldozers and aircraft battled the largest active wildfire in the U.S. on Saturday after strong winds pushed it across some containment lines and clos...

DATE: Apr 30, 2022 | CATEGORY: New Mexico

La Plata County holds large-scale drill to prepare for eventual wildfire

Multiday simulation includes mock evacuations of hospital, subdivisions

DATE: Apr 30, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Gusty winds, dryness could fan spring wildfires again

ALBUQUERQUE – More of the dry, windy weather that helped fan rare spring wildfires from New Mexico to Nebraska is expected to threaten the progress that firefighters have made in controlling...

DATE: Apr 28, 2022 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Added crews making progress on Midwest, Southwest fires

OMAHA, Neb. – Beefed up fire crews made major progress on a large prairie fire burning near the Nebraska-Kansas line on Tuesday and lighter winds allowed firefighters to keep flames from adv...

DATE: Apr 27, 2022 | CATEGORY: Regional News

‘Fire weather watch’ issued for much of Southwest Colorado

Air quality could decline as smoke drifts this way from Arizona and New Mexico

DATE: Apr 25, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Wildfires tear across several states, driven by high winds

OMAHA, Neb. – Firefighters across the country are battling growing wildfires as tinder-dry conditions and high winds whip up flames from Arizona to Florida — including a wildfire in rural so...

DATE: Apr 25, 2022 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Peak Colorado wildfire season may start earlier and last longer

Projections suggest peak of the fire season will start in mid-May

DATE: Apr 24, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

‘A very chaotic situation’: Crews tackle growing wildfires

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Destructive fires in the U.S. Southwest have burned dozens of homes in northern Arizona and put numerous small villages in New Mexico in the path of danger, as wind-fueled...

DATE: Apr 22, 2022 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Photos: Parade launches 2024 Connie Mack World Series in FarmingtonFans line street as players march on Main Damp, overcast weather cooled off the crowd lining Main Street on Friday morning for the 2024 Connie Mack World Series Parade. The hourlong parade began shortly after 10 a.m. in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

Fans line street as players march on Main

Photos: ‘Mini Takes the States’ tour stops in DurangoHundreds of Mini Cooper vehicles occupy Fort Lewis College on Sunday; Participants began the journey in Albuquerque and will finish in Seattle

Hundreds of Mini Cooper vehicles occupy Fort Lewis College on Sunday; Participants began the journey in Albuquerque and will finish in Seattle

Photos: Boxing returns to DurangoAnimus on the Animas: 1st Annual Durango Boxing Classic at the Durango Main Mall on Saturday

Animus on the Animas: 1st Annual Durango Boxing Classic at the Durango Main Mall on Saturday

Photos and video: Going for the gold by devouring piesContestants try their best to win the Oscar’s Pie Eating Contest on Friday in Durango

Contestants try their best to win the Oscar’s Pie Eating Contest on Friday in Durango

Photo: Fireworks light the sky in DurangoDurango celebrates Independence Day on Thursday night

Durango celebrates Independence Day on Thursday night

Photos: Working with woodLocal craftsman uses wood joinery, rather than nails or screws to construct homes and other structures

Local craftsman uses wood joinery, rather than nails or screws to construct homes and other structures

2024 Fourth of July Parade draws crowd Thursday in downtown Durango

Photos: Downtown Durango hosts Fourth of July ParadeDowntown sidewalks were full for Thursday’s celebration

Downtown sidewalks were full for Thursday’s celebration

Durango Rotary Club, Parks and Recreation department host Independence Day events

Law enforcement conducts active threat training at Park Elementary SchoolResidents may see and hear police activity Thursday and Friday

Law enforcement agencies across Southwest Colorado sent officers to participate in active threat training this week at Park Elementary School in Durango. Those in the neighborhood can expect police vehicles parked on the premises, officers in tactical gear conducting exercises inside and outside the school, and signs advising that training is in progress. The sounds of shouting, airsoft weapons and the popping of a starter pistol will also be audible near the school, said Karla Sluis, spokeswoman for Durango School District 9-R.Sluis said that members of the school district’s safety department have gone door-to-door with flyers notifying residents around Park Elementary School about the training.

Hosted by the Durango Police Department and the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, this week’s voluntary training invited officers from law enforcement agencies across a five-county region of Southwest Colorado encompassing La Plata, Archuleta, San Juan, Montezuma and Dolores counties.

La Plata County Sheriff’s Office deputy Durango Police Department Deputy Mike Latham, lead instructor for this week's training, said Wednesday and the first half of Thursday were mostly preparatory, teaching officers the school’s layout and devising scenarios, whereas the latter half of Thursday and Friday residents should anticipate some noise as active threat scenarios play out.

Latham said active threat training teaches officers proper protocol during active threat scenarios, especially in densely populated areas where they have become increasingly common.Park Elementary School is not the only Durango School District facility law enforcement has conducted active threat training. Latham said schools lend themselves well to this sort of training because, “It gives us all kinds of doors to work on, different rooms, different scenarios we can run. We can pretend it’s a mall with nice big corridors, we can even pretend it’s an outdoor area in the gymnasium.”Latham has participated in active threat training multiple times in the past and described the drills as exhilarating and nerve-wracking. He said one of the training’s main goals is teaching officers how to manage stress and remain calm with lives on the line.

“I take a pulse oximeter in the morning and get a baseline on their heart rates,” Latham said. “And sometimes, just before they’re about to engage a threat, I say ‘Timeout.’ Put it (the oximeter) on there, and their heart rate’s skyrocketed to 140, 150, 160 just in training.”

Latham said throughout his career active threat training has evolved to become safer for officers and fall in line with increasingly professional police standards.“When I first started we were just running into halls and rooms hoping for the best,” Latham said. “Now the tactic is still to get there, still stop the taking of lives, but tactics are much better than they were 20 years ago.”

Residents may see and hear police activity Thursday and Friday

As drought and wind plague Southwest Colorado, one family finds too much water

Fire-ravaged New Mexico villages cling to faith, ‘querencia’

N.M. governor to the feds: Stop igniting prescribed burns in windy, dry conditions

Animas City Mountain prescribed burn delayed

Bulldozers, aircraft used to fight fire near New Mexico city

La Plata County holds large-scale drill to prepare for eventual wildfire

Gusty winds, dryness could fan spring wildfires again

Added crews making progress on Midwest, Southwest fires

‘Fire weather watch’ issued for much of Southwest Colorado

Wildfires tear across several states, driven by high winds

Peak Colorado wildfire season may start earlier and last longer

‘A very chaotic situation’: Crews tackle growing wildfires

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