Paul Duarte

Paul Duarte serves as the Wildland Section Deputy Chief for the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC). He brings more than 30 years of experience in the fire service, having worked in municipal, state, and federal roles, including Deputy Fire Chief for the Alamosa Fire Department and as a Fire Operations Specialist with the U.S. Forest Service.

In his current role, Paul leads statewide wildland fire operations, including the Fire Resources, Fire Planning, and Aviation branches, while fostering interagency collaboration to strengthen Colorado's wildfire response.. He is qualified as a Complex Incident Management (CIM) Incident Commander and Operations Section Chief, and is committed to developing the next generation of leaders within the wildland fire community.

Paul is also a strong advocate for innovation, working to integrate new technology and tools that deliver critical, real-time information to firefighters. His efforts focus on improving situational awareness, enabling risk-based decision-making, and boosting operational effectiveness across Colorado's wildfire response efforts.