Fire Review: Colorado Springs’ Staff Undertrained

A review of Colorado Springs’ response to the deadly Waldo Canyon Fire found that city officials and employees were under-trained in dealing with the logistics of such a large disaster.

The initial after action report released by the city on Tuesday said that staff would need more training for years to come. The Gazette also said that the report suggested the city come up with a way to provide important information immediately to police, firefighters and sheriff’s deputies.

The fire started June 23. Three days later it spread into western Colorado Springs, where it destroyed over 340 homes and killed two people.

An emergency notification system failed to send thousands of evacuation notices during the fire. A report on the failure is expected in early November.