Wildfire Response and Recovery Resources for the Water Sector

The Water Quality Control Division has resources available to assist your county, municipalities, communities, and water and wastewater systems through wildfire response and recovery processes. 

General resources

• CO - Post Fire Playbook: updated May 2025. 
• After the Flames: general community resource. 
• CoWARN: Use CoWARN if you need to, update your profile so you receive activations, and utilize the message board to discuss post-fire treatment issues, etc. 

Best practices to protect public health and comply with regulatory requirements

Communicate with the division if your water or wastewater system’s source water, collections system, treatment, or distribution system may be impacted by a wildfire. 

Non-emergency concerns for planning and response: 

• Drinking water - communicate with your compliance specialist. 
• Wastewater - communicate with the division’s Lead Wastewater Engineer - David Kurz  (303)692-6298.

Emergency concerns: 

• Immediate challenges with treatment, distribution, and collections, call the department’s 24-hour Incident Report Line - 1-877-518-5608
• Drinking water - Please consult the Pressure Loss Response Guidance for additional information on pressure loss/outages. 
• If any portion of your distribution system was burned by the fire, please consult the WQCD acute team regarding flushing, sampling, and potential advisories. Contact Lead Drinking Water Engineer, Chelsea Cotton, chelsea.cotton@state.co.us, and the acute team email inbox, cdphe.wqacutes@state.co.us 
• If any portion of your distribution system loses pressure for any reason, such as wildfire impacts to infrastructure, power outage or intentional shutdown due to evacuation, please call the department’s 24-hour Incident Report Line - 1-877-518-5608.
• If you are a surface water system and have filtration concerns, including but not limited to, if you are unable to meet your microbial removal or are getting close to exceeding your turbidity limits, following a wildfire, please call your compliance specialist. If you are calling outside of normal business hours please call the Incident Report Line. 

Best management practices for immediate response: 

Communicate the following information to the incident management team: locations of critical infrastructure, special considerations or hazards such as high-voltage power, chlorinators, source water protection areas.  If you don’t have a direct line of communication with the incident management team, please reach out to our 24-hour report line and the department emergency management team will assist you with getting the correct point of contact. 

• Evacuation 
• Pay attention to all emergency alerts, instructions, and evacuate immediately if asked by authorities.
• Turn off air conditioning or air circulation systems.
• Detach any electrical garage doors.
• Have an N-95 or other type of respirator available, if possible, to limit exposure to smoke and other toxic fumes.
• Re-entry
• Consult with the local incident management team before any utility personnel re-enter the facility. 
• Minimize the risk of inhaling dust particles by wetting debris.
• If returning from evacuation, remember that dangers could still exist for personnel such as hot spots, charred and fallen trees, downed power lines, smoldering and falling debris, sinkholes, mud, and landslides, etc.
• Resources
• EPA’s Incident Action Checklist 
• Tier 1 public notice instructions - Use for boil or bottled water advisory once you receive the advisory for the division.
• National Environmental Health Association - WILDFIRE RESPONSE Guide for Environmental Public Health Professionals

Best management practices for long-term recovery:  

• Purdue University - Addressing Contamination of Drinking Water Distribution Systems from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) After Wildfires
• Center for Disease Control - Private Wells after a Wildfire
• Boulder County Health Department - Fire Recovery Resources for Private Wells and Septic 

➽ Kyra Gregory Drinking Water Training Specialist 

➽ Chelsea Cotton, P.E. Lead Drinking Water Engineer

Marshall Fire Recovery Update

The Marshall Fire, the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history, devastated the cities of Louisville and Superior on December 30, 2021. As the impacted communities recover, CDPHE Water Quality Control Division is coordinating with the water systems to protect customers from potential cross connection issues at fire-damaged service taps. Water testing done by CDPHE and the water suppliers after the fire showed that extreme heat and damage to homes and structures caused by fire can create harmful contaminants such as VOCs. These harmful contaminants from the damaged water infrastructure can impact the water supply through connections to the supplier’s distribution system by backflow of contaminants into the supplier’s distribution system. 

For impacted connections where service was suspended, suppliers are consulting with the department before service can be returned. It is very important that customers do not reestablish water service to suspended service connections without approval by the supplier as it could cause potential contamination of the water system. To  return service to a fire-impacted connection, suppliers are performing one of the following actions:

1. Water quality sampling at the fire-impacted connection to ensure that no contaminants are present in the potable water supply. 
2. Installing an appropriate backflow prevention assembly at a non-impacted location to control the connection. The supplier must ensure that all installed backflow assemblies are tested by a certified cross-connection control technician upon installation. If a previously installed backflow assembly is suspected of being impacted by the fire, the assembly must be retested in order to confirm the connection is controlled.
3. Replacing all water supply infrastructure including the meter pit and entire service line. If all water supply infrastructure has been replaced, the supplier can follow normal protocols for supplying water to a new connection. The suppliers are informing the department when this process has been completed at an impacted location.

CDPHE WQCD continues to support the water suppliers as they rebuild their communities impacted by the Marshall Fire. Governor Polis expressed his deep appreciation for all the utilities and this appreciation is echoed by CDPHE.

➽ Heather Young, PE, CWP, Field Services Section Manager

➽ Clayton Moores, PE, Field Unit I Manager