She translated life-saving info during the Grizzly Creek Fire. Now she's running for office.

Smoke also became a big concern for Velasco. She thinks wildfire response could improve communication about when it is and isn’t safe to be outdoors. 

“A lot of people in our community are having to work outside in landscaping, in construction — even our anglers or recreation economy is outside,” she explained. 

And once that information is effectively communicated, she questioned, “How are we protecting our outdoor workers to make sure that they're safe and that they're not dealing with health risks from smoke?”

When the fire was finally 100% contained mid-December, Velasco decided that her communication work was far from over. 

“My community, we were really heavily affected by that fire … and … we know that fires are getting more aggressive, fires are getting bigger,” she said. “Our communities of color are disproportionately affected by climate change.”

[Related: Climate change is killing people, but there's still time to reverse the damage]

Climate change is causing hotter and drier weather in Colorado, which dries out forest floor fuels that have been collecting for decades. These prime fire conditions, coupled with a windy day, enabled the Grizzly Creek Fire to jump the Colorado River and Interstate 70. Today, it is positioned as one of the 20 top largest fires in Colorado history in terms of acreage burned. 

Knowing that wildfire risk will increase, Velasco decided to train as a public information officer and a wildland firefighter. Sponsored by the Upper Colorado River Fire District and the United States Forest Service, she became a Type 2 Public Information Officer.

“And this last year I really dove right in and I was deployed, and I was gone for three months and was really learning a lot,” she said.

Velasco worked in Alaska and Nevada with incident management teams responding to fires. 

She also understands that this communication work is imperative around all emergency response, such as pandemics, hurricanes and earthquakes. She recently took level 300 and 400 Incident Command System training courses, which are the same courses that FEMA uses to prepare.

“And what I saw is that we're so prepared for responding to these emergencies, but I also see a need to address the root causes,” said Velasco.

For her, that doesn’t just mean emergency response or disaster preparation, but everything from mental health to affordable housing to climate change. This is one of the reasons Velasco is officially running for Colorado’s House District 57.

The district was redrawn in 2021 to include all of Garfield and Pitkin counties, as well as the Roaring Fork Valley section of Eagle County. Republican Rep. Perry Will of New Castle currently holds the seat and intends to run for reelection.

According to The Colorado Sun, the redrawn district now favors Democrats.

Velasco, who is running as a Democrat, will join Glenwood Springs Democrat Cole Buerger in vying for the party’s nomination. Garfield County’s Democratic party is holding its caucus virtually Saturday, March 5.

The statewide primary election is June 28, 2022.

“I really want to have a resilient community,” Velasco said. “Community resiliency really means having what you need to be healthy and having what you need to be safe.”