Garfield County commissioners on Sept. 8 acknowledged a letter from the Northern Rockies incident management team thanking the Rifle-Garfield County Airport staff for supporting firefighting aircraft during the recent Elk and Lee fires.

County and airport officials described the airport as a critical staging area for helicopters, single-engine air tankers and other aircraft, saying on-site fueling, staging and maintenance facilities significantly reduced turnaround times and helped firefighting efficiency. Airport staff and tenants were credited for logistical support during sustained operations.

Separately, the board approved a related action to request and accept a Federal Aviation Administration Airport Improvement Program grant for design work on a multi-phase apron project at the airport. County staff said the grant will fund the design phase for four construction phases, positioning the airport to move quickly if additional construction funds become available in future years.

The commissioners thanked airport staff and tenants and asked that the airport’s operations team be copied on the incident-management letter of appreciation.

What’s next: county staff will accept the FAA grant and proceed with design work; airport and emergency-management staff will continue post-incident reviews and maintain coordination for future fire operations.