How counties are fighting the flames

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GOLDEN — “Your escape route has just been cut off! You’ll be deploying right up there!” Jefferson County Fire Management Officer Kenyon Shephard shouts. 

He jabs his finger toward a steep slope. 

A dozen rookies in khakis and lug-soled shoes race up the forest road, scrambling for their firefighter packs under the pressure of a roaring wind. They shake out lime-green personal survival shelters and hunker inside … 25 seconds … 26 … 27 … as their leader shouts the firestorm is nigh. 

The pitched forest road is…