Fort Lewis Mesa Fire Protection District

The Fort Lewis Mesa Fire Protection District (FLMFPD) was formed in 1982, and encompasses 357 square miles of rural Southwest La Plata County, in Southwest Colorado. It is served by 12 volunteers and 1 full time Fire Chief and 1 full time Assistant Fire Chief. The FLMFPD serves the unincorporated towns of Breen, Hesperus, Marvel and Red Mesa, utilizing five stations. Two major transportation corridors transverse the FLMFPD, Colorado State Highway 140 and US Highway 160. Colorado State 140, a 23 mile north-south corridor, crosses into New Mexico at the southern boundary of the FLMFPD and is a narrow 2 lane road. US Highway 160, is a 21 mile designated Haz Mat corridor, crosses the entire FLMFPD from east to west and is 3 lane road which has a section with the highest accident fatality rate in Colorado. These roads also have heavy tourist traffic due several National Parks in the vicinity. The non-highway road infrastructure in the district is approximately 85% unpaved, two lane gravel surfaces. The land within the FLMFPD is primarily agriculture, with approximately 1,048 residences. There are extensive oil and gas drilling operations being conducted in the district with several major pipelines and a coal mine which creates dangerous traffic burdens for our residents.
The district's terrain is comprised of steep rocky hills and mesas separated by narrow canyons all of which are covered by pinion, juniper and old growth pines. The districts average elevation is approximately 7200 feet; the climate is semi-arid which leads to extremely challenging wildland fire situations, especially recently with several years of drought conditions.