FORT COLLINS, Colo. — While civilian and military firefighters and aviation crews fight the High Park fire from land and air, nearly a hundred Colorado National Guard military police are manning checkpoints 24/7.
But they're not there just for their good looks.
At any given time, for 12-hour shifts every day, these dedicated men and women, some of whom are police officers in their civilian jobs, are in charge of up to 13 different checkpoints in support of the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.
In basic training, one might call what they're doing "fire watch," but some might say this mission is more intense than the average training event.
For these soldiers and airmen, in addition to maintaining situational awareness of their proximity to any flames, their job is also to preventing unauthorized access to neighborhoods and assist during evacuations whenever possible.
"For the past decade, we've been training for the war mission -- for the president -- but we've also had dual mission, and that’s for the state," said Maj. Michael McClelland, Task Force-Security commander. "When we do get the call, our guys come running, and we bring an edge to the fight. … I bring my police experience, our firefighters, they bring their firefighter experience with them. All of the troops out there -- our soldiers, our airmen -- they're very anxious to assist in any way they can."
Pfc. Daniel Warner is one of them. A March 2012 graduate of military police school, he's drilled only one other time with the 193rd Military Police Battalion -- Colorado's National Guard Reaction Force -- and describes himself as "greener than the uniform."
"Turning people away from their homes has not been easy," he said of his mission. "Just as they're displaced from home, in a sense, I am as well. … The difference to that, is that when this is all said and done, I'll have a home to go home to. … That's been the difficult part about all this."
Pfc. Patrick Lyons, a medic, knows what it's like to be a local citizen, as well as a Guardsman.
A Larimer County resident, he and his family were evacuated from their home before he learned he'd be mobilized for the mission to protect it.
"Everybody takes care of me, I take care of them," Lyons said of his mission, which recently required him to provide first aid to a rancher who was injured while moving cattle from danger. "That's just a second level of who I am. I like to help people."
Self-sustaining, too, these soldiers and airmen are also in charge of their own food, water and communications, day in and day out.
"No matter how long it takes, we're here for the Sheriff's Office, and for the people of Larimer County," said McCLelland.
"I love my town and I love the people here. It's not just Americans helping Americans. In this instance, it's Coloradans helping Coloradans," said Warner. "These are all my neighbors."
This story is part four in a five-part series
All stories in this series:
Part 1: Orders received
Part 2: Outflanking the flames
Part 3: Conducting terrain flight operations
Part 4: Securing the perimeter
Part 5: Command and signal