Colorado Springs Fire Department prepares for surge in calls during Memorial Day weekend

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)--Emergency crews across the Pikes Peak Region are preparing for a surge of rescue calls this weekend. 

The Colorado Springs Fire Department expects to get more calls for lost and injured hikers this Memorial Day weekend and they're asking people to be cautious.

"This time of year, you know it's the first official weekend of summer so everybody enjoys getting outdoors. You know the masses of people that head outdoors all sorts of problems arise," said Captain JJ Halsey, who works for the Colorado Springs Fire Department.

This Memorial Day weekend more than 100 Colorado Springs firefighters are on call ready to respond the moment an emergency strikes.

"What we do to prepare is really keep our training up and our existing training models up and we are just ready to answer the call anytime, 24 hours a day seven days a week," added Halsey.

With the recent heavy rains, he expects crews to be called out to rescues on mountain trails. 

"What people tend to forget is they go out in the morning when it's beautiful like this and then they get caught up in the afternoon in those thunderstorms and they get caught in those flash floods and the trails that they are on are muddy so it just makes a little more hazards for those kinds of things," said Halsey.

CSFD has mountain vehicles to get through steep rugged terrain. 

"And a lot of those calls are either people who have fallen off the trails, injured themselves you know twisted their ankle something along those lines," said Halsey. 

El Paso County Search and Rescue will be working closely with the fire department too. 

Another big concern is fire danger. The fire department is asking folks not to throw away lit cigarette butts and to make sure campfires are out before they walk away.