A STRIKE TEAM from Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit is being dispatched to Colorado on orders from Gov. Gavin Newsom to aid that state’s battles with a massive wildfire.
Five engines and crews from the unit will be supporting firefighting efforts on the Aspen Acres Fire about 150 miles south of Denver.
The fire covered 85,983 acres with 0% containment as of Saturday afternoon, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
The Cal Fire unit will join more than 730 personnel fighting the wlldfire first reported June 29 near the Aspen Acres Campground in the San Isabel mountains. It has forced thousands of residents to evacuate, including entire towns.
The team was expected to depart California on Saturday and remain in Colorado for up to 14 days, Cal Fire said.
The Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, headquartered in St. Helena, covers six counties north of the Bay Area from the Pacific Ocean to the Interstate Highway 5 corridor — Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Colusa, Lake and Yolo.
It is one of three California strike teams of engines responding to Colorado, Cal Fire said.
Colorado is facing critically dry fuel conditions driven by an ongoing drought and recent periods of hot, dry weather, according to the Governor’s Office. Those conditions triggered extreme fire behavior, prompting requests for out-of-state support.
Colorado has supported California during several major incidents including the 2024 Park Fire in Northern California and the 2025 Eaton and Palisades Fires in Southern California, Cal Fire said.
“Wildfire is not just a challenge for California — it’s a shared reality across the West,” Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler said in a statement. “The opportunity to support Colorado the way they have supported California is both important and necessary, because when one state is impacted, we all stand together.”
Cal Fire said the deployment wouldn’t impact firefighting capacity in California. The agency said it will maintain full staffing levels and deploy reserve fire engines.