Serving the community since 1906
WEEK OF JUNE 1, 2023
VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 22
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Ten for Rylee Balcazar
Colorado pushes to stop relying on rented aircraft to fight wildfires
lose, it’s on you. If you win, it’s on you. I like wrestling more than soccer.” Balcazar won the state championship in 2022. She took fourth place among 105-pounders at this
Colorado is doubling down on its push to rely less on rented aircraft to fight wildfires with the purchase of a second helicopter capable of quickly crisscrossing the state to detect and douse flames. Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill on May 11 allocating $26 million to buy another “Firehawk,” a converted version of the military’s ubiquitous Black Hawk helicopter. The Firehawk’s top speed is about 160 mph and it can quickly slurp up and drop 1,000 gallons of water. When fires aren’t burning, the helicopter can be deployed on search and rescue missions. Right now, Colorado has no operational, state-owned aircraft that can drop water and retardant on fires. Instead, it relies on contracts with private aerial firefighting companies to respond to blazes across the state. Some of those air resources are pooled regionally, meaning that the rented helicopters and airplanes serve multiple states at the same time. But that’s become an issue as climate change causes dangerously dry conditions across the Western U.S. In 2020, for instance, when Colorado had the three largest wildfires in its history, the state struggled to secure the aircraft it needed because there were also fires burning in New Mexico, California and several other states. “We need to be able to control our
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Vista Ridge’s Hayden Newberg pulls Fort Lupton’s Rylee Balcazar to the mat during their 105-pound semifinal match at the state girls wrestling tournament Feb. 17. Wrestling is just one of the ten sports Balcazar has earned a letter in, and she has her PHOTO BY HECTOR LOPEZ eye on more.
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There’s something about athletics that appeals to Fort Lupton High School’s Rylee Balcazar. She’s won 10 varsity letters through her three years of high
school: three letters each in softball, wrestling and soccer. Balcazar also won a letter in track and field as a sophomore. “I quit track so I could focus more on soccer,” Balcazar said. “Wrestling is more my specialty. It’s more my type of thing. It’s a 1-v-1. If you
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