Colorado company helps bring cell service to wildfire zones [Video]

AURORA, Colo. — The Alexander Mountain Fire broke out in a remote canyon in Larimer County this summer, where cell phone signals are nearly nonexistent.

The firefighting command post, the hub for critical lifesaving information, was in a communications dead zone.  

“I think we got the call in the evening and we were deployed that night before midnight,” said Jared Hilzendeger with the Verizon crisis response team. “We deployed a trailer that is staged in Windsor, and we had it up and running in 30 to 45 minutes.”

He calls it a SPOT, also called a satellite picocell on trailer. It can create a bubble of LTE service complete with Wi-Fi that can handle 200 to 800 users depending on the source and speed of the internet connection it establishes. It could possibly streamline evacuation notices and search and rescue efforts.

“I think it absolutely can …