Mesa County Public Health just released its 2025 impact report, and the numbers tell a story of exhaustion, quick thinking, and quiet heroism. For the first time in over twenty years, measles returned to western Colorado with 11 confirmed cases, while two monster wildfires burned more than 30,000 acres right in the county’s backyard. The health department found itself fighting on two fronts at once.
First Measles Cases Since the Early 2000s Hit Hard
Eleven people got sick with measles in Mesa County in 2025. That might sound small until you remember the last local case was more than two decades ago.
The outbreak forced the department to pull staff from every corner of the building. More than two dozen employees dropped their regular jobs to run contact tracing, testing clinics, and vaccination drives.
“It touched every single part of our agency,” said Erin Minnerath, interim executive director of Mesa County Public Health. “We logged over 500 hours just in incident command alone.”
Staff who normally handle restaurant inspections or well-water tests suddenly became disease detectives working evenings and weekends. The extra training the department invested in before 2025 paid off when the real emergency arrived.
Wildfires Turned the Sky Orange and the Air Dangerous
While the measles team was still chasing cases, the Turner Gulch and Wright Draw fires exploded across the county.
Together the two blazes scorched 32,000 acres and sent thick smoke over Grand Junction for weeks.
Public health staff joined daily briefings with fire incident commanders. Their job went far beyond watching air-quality monitors.
They pushed out warnings in English and Spanish telling parents when to keep kids inside, helped set up clean-air shelters, and made sure dialysis patients and people with COPD knew exactly how bad the air was each day.
“Some days the air quality was worse than anything we’ve seen in years,” Minnerath said. “We had to get information out fast so the most vulnerable people could protect themselves.”
What the Double Emergency Taught the County
2025 became the ultimate stress test for Mesa County Public Health, and leaders say they passed it stronger.
The measles outbreak proved their surveillance and contact-tracing systems work under pressure. The wildfires showed they can coordinate with federal fire teams while still protecting residents who never saw a flame.
Most important, the back-to-back crises showed staff they are ready for anything.
“We’re faster now. We’re more organized. We know exactly who does what the minute the phone rings,” Minnerath said. “That kind of real-world experience you just can’t buy.”
The department plans to keep extra vaccination clinics running year-round and expand their air-quality texting alert system because 2025 taught them emergencies rarely come one at a time.
For a county that went twenty years without a single measles case and usually watches big fires burn somewhere else, 2025 was a loud wake-up call. The people who work at Mesa County Public Health heard it, rolled up their sleeves, and got the job done.
Now they’re ready for whatever 2026 brings.
