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Castle Rock Fire partners with Larkspur, Jackson
Contributed by: Town of Castle Rock on 5/6/2008

With the increasing fire danger in Colorado, and particularly along the Front Range, Castle Rock Fire-Rescue Department and the Larkspur and Jackson 105 Fire Protection Districts have signed a call when needed (CWN) helicopter agreement with Armstrong Helicopters, LLC, a Castle Rock-based helicopter service.

These fire protection agencies believe having this valuable air resource under contract prior to a fire start is in the best interest and safety for their residents and firefighters.

A CWN contract establishes the particular procedures necessary to order the helicopter, and provides the cost and billing process in advance. When a fire starts, a simple notification is all that is needed. By establishing the contract, the agencies also have established the communications process for communicating with the helicopter and ground crews during a fire.

The contract explains that the requesting agency only pays when the helicopter is being used. With 90 percent of the districts' response areas residing within the red zone, this resource will be a huge asset to initial attack crews if and when a fire starts.

The aircraft is capable arriving on scene in any part of the county in less than 25 minutes from time of dispatch and applying 324 gallons of water or fire retardant as fast as every 30 seconds depending on the location of the water source. Armstrong supports their helicopters with fuel tankers and service vehicles allowing the aircraft to stay on the incident and fuel without "return to base" interruption.

Armstrong Helicopters is owned and operated by brothers Paul, Brett and Jeff Armstrong, long-time residents of Douglas County. Armstrong Helicopters operates 3 Bell UH-1 aircraft.

Jeff and his wife, Amy, live in Castle Rock, and he is very excited to be able to provide assistance to his community while protecting the county he grew up in and lives within.

Paul and his wife, Debra, operate a second facility in Stevensville, Mont. The helicopters are piloted by contract pilots with more than 30,000 cumulative hours of incident-free vertical reference/ long line flight and who will be on standby during high fire danger.

With the contract being CWN, the helicopter may not be available when crews request it; however, if the fire danger is continually high in Colorado, the resources would most likely be moved in to assist. The only way to guarantee that a helicopter will be available when requested is to sign an exclusive-use contract. This contract requires a minimum payment for each day of the contract.

For additional information, contact Larkspur Fire, 303-681-3284; Castle Rock Fire, 303-660-1066; or Jackson 105 Fire, 303-688-1218.


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