When a wildfire breaks out in Summit County, firefighters work tirelessly to extinguish it until they put it out. Behind the scenes, fire districts, federal land managers, state agencies and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office work together to make sure no interagency conflicts hinder the response. The Sheriff’s Office plays an important role in what Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons calls “the business side of wildfires.” When a fire starts within a fire district’s boundaries, it is the district’s responsibility until it decides to give it to the sheriff, who acts as the county’s fire warden. “Fire districts own their fires until a couple things occur,” FitzSimons said. “One, they’ve run out of resources to fight that fire, and so they turn to the sheriff. Another reason would be that the fire is going to escape the boundaries of that district.” Read more ...