Myakka officials help wildfire-ravaged Colorado

Patrick Mahoney knows he's going to face the unexpected as he heads West to Durango, Colorado. 

"We are just going to be working 12-hour days for the next 14 days," he said. 

Durango has been hit hard. More than 1,000 firefighters are trying to contain a fire named the 416. 

Crews have only contained 15 percent of the blaze which has spread over 27,000 acres in the San Juan National Forest. 

Mahoney is with the Myakka Division of the Florida Forest Service. He will join wildfire prevention teams in Durango, informing locals and visitors about the danger and the dry conditions.

"We have sympathy, we have empathy, we know what they are going through. We've seen it here. We've seen it in other places and so that's another aspect that we just go and comfort people and communicate what's going on," Mahoney explained.

At any moment, he could find himself on the front lines of the fire. 

"We just have to be extra careful of where we are at, what we are doing. We are facing obstacles and dangers that we just don't face here," he said. 

It's a job he's ready to fill; working as a team with others from across the country to help a community in need.  

"They need help and when they call for help we answer the call," he said.