In Colorado, businesses are facing increasing scrutiny for fire code best practices, driven by the state’s rising wildfire frequency and several high-profile incidents involving major corporations. When developing risk management plans, business leaders at all levels must now consider essential fire safety to prevent loss and ensure compliance.
We’ve put together this short read to inform folks in our Colorado network about fire watch basics, as well as how and why compliance is about to become more stringent. Construction teams, residential property managers, and decision makers across all industries should be aware of the changing landscape and ensure that fire watch solutions are in place before they are needed on-site.
Colorado Organizations Face Increased Fire Code Scrutiny
The recent $640 million settlement that Xcel Energy (via its subsidiary Public Service Company of Colorado) agreed to pay in claims tied to the 2021 Marshall Fire underscores the escalating legal and regulatory risks businesses now face around fire safety and infrastructure oversight in Colorado. Though the settlement is not an admission of liability, it reflects how utility operators and other entities can be held financially responsible when failures or negligence contribute to destructive fires in built environments.
For Colorado businesses, the implications are clear: higher stakes for compliance, greater scrutiny from regulators and insurers, and potentially more aggressive oversight of fire safety systems. Companies in property management, construction, warehousing, or any business that owns or manages commercial real estate may find themselves under growing pressure. Fire protection systems will not only need to be installed correctly, but also maintained, monitored, and backed up with contingency measures. In practice, this means that fire codes, inspections, impairment protocols, and fallback plans, such as fire watch, must be taken seriously, as lapses can lead to costly litigation or forced remediation.
In short: fire safety is no longer a background concern in the Centennial State — it’s a frontline compliance risk. When a system fails, the expectation is that organizations will have anticipated, documented, and responded proactively (not reactively).
What is Fire Watch?
Fire watch is a contingency safety measure used when an automatic fire protection system—such as sprinklers, alarms, or detection systems—is offline, impaired, or otherwise unavailable. Its purpose is to provide human surveillance so that any signs of smoke, fire, or hazard are detected promptly, reported, and addressed until the automated system is restored.
In Colorado, many local jurisdictions explicitly reference “fire watch” in their fire prevention or municipal codes. For example, Durango’s municipal code specifies:
“Fire watch shall be performed under the state of Colorado Fire Prevention and Control guidelines.”
Additionally, Colorado State University’s fire watch protocol outlines triggers requiring fire watch when parts of a fire system are disabled:
- When a fire alarm or detection system is out of service for more than 4 hours (or during off‑hours).
- When a fire protection (suppression) system is out of service for more than 4 hours or during certain time periods (e.g. overnight).
- In buildings of special risk (assembly occupancies, etc.) where any outage could pose heightened danger.
Key elements typically include:
- A dedicated person (or persons) whose sole duty is fire surveillance
- Defined patrol routes and intervals
- Communication tools and procedures for immediate fire reporting
- Familiarity with building layout, fire alarm pull stations, exit plans, and extinguishing equipment
- A log or record of patrol times, observations, and actions
- Continuation until restoration, inspection, and testing of the automated system are completed
Fire watch is not meant to substitute for required fire systems permanently, but rather to act as a bridge during outages or impairments, allowing occupancy or operation to continue (where permitted) with mitigated risk.
In many jurisdictions in Colorado and elsewhere, failure to implement an approved fire watch during required outages can lead to occupancy prohibitions, fines, or code violations.
Fire Watch for “Hot Work”
In addition to the state regulations listed above, most jurisdictions will require fire watch guards to oversee “Hot Work” such as welding or torching. If heat applications are being done in Colorado locations that lack industrial fire safety equipment, municipal and OSHA codes often demand that fire watch guards be present.
Fire Watch Challenges in Colorado
Elevated Fire Risk from Wildfires and Climate Trends
Colorado has been experiencing more frequent and severe wildfire seasons in recent years, raising baseline fire risk even for non‑wildland structures. In 2025, multiple wildfires have already burned significant acreage, intensifying concerns about ember intrusion, smoke propagation, and fire spread into urban interfaces. Some of the largest wildfires in state history (such as the Lee Fire) are now part of the landscape of heightened expectation for fire readiness.
This backdrop increases the expectations on businesses and property managers: not only must internal fire systems be robust, but external risks (on adjacent lands, vegetation, or through transmission lines) are more likely to translate into structural threats. The Marshall Fire itself burned nearly 6,000 acres and destroyed over 1,000 structures amid already dry conditions and high wind—illustrating how wildland fire risk and built environment vulnerability can collide.
Because of that elevated risk, fire safety authorities, insurers, and local jurisdictions may demand more stringent oversight. In practice, this can lead to tighter rules for outage reporting, lower tolerances for downtime, and stricter enforcement of fire watch requirements in areas that previously may have been lenient.
Logistical and Service Challenges in Remote or Rural Areas
Implementing timely fire watch services in Colorado presents geographic challenges, particularly outside major metro areas. Some of the obstacles:
- Service provider scarcity: There may be few or no commercial fire watch or guard services willing to travel to remote counties, making “same-day” deployment difficult or impossible.
- Distance and travel time: In rural mountain or plateau regions, travel time can be substantial; a provider based in a city may take hours to arrive.
- Resource constraints in smaller municipalities: Local fire departments or code officials may lack staffing or capacity to jointly assist in fire watch operations or oversight in less populated areas.
- Weather and terrain impacts: Seasonal snow, poor roads, or extreme weather can hamper patrols and timely checks.
- Coordination with multiple jurisdictions: Some businesses straddle multiple jurisdictions (e.g. county and municipal lines), complicating who authorizes or inspects the fire watch arrangement.
These challenges can lead to delays, gaps in coverage, or reliance on less ideal solutions (e.g., having internal staff fill in). But defaulting on a fire watch requirement—or delaying deployment—can invite compliance violations, code enforcement orders, or insurance exposure.
Given these constraints, organizations in Colorado must build contingency plans tailored to their location. That might include pre‑contracting local providers, arranging remote oversight, cross‑training internal personnel for emergency fire watch duty, or including fire watch logistics in outage planning.
Contact National Firewatch
With our nationwide presence and local guard crews, National Firewatch is quickly emerging as one of Colorado’s leading providers of same-day fire watch services. We service many small and medium-sized cities that many of our competitors do not.
Our parent company, The Guard Alliance, has built a robust network of guards in the Denver area over the past fifteen years. National Firewatch was formed with the exclusive goal of delivering same-day fire watch service across the USA, and our success in Colorado has been rapid. With growing demand for fire watch services in the Centennial State, our team is ready to answer the call. If you need fire watch today, contact us immediately.