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Steamboat Springs — Routt County received 57 applications last month from people seeking to be its next emergency management director.

That's the largest applicant pool for a department head position that County Manager Tom Sullivan said he has seen since joining the county staff in 2001.

Former director Chuck Vale vacated the position in January to take a state-level job with the Colorado Division of Emergency Management. Sullivan said the county aims to have Vale's replacement in place by April, when the individual can get his or her feet wet just in time for high-water season in Routt County.

Since the job posting closed Jan. 30, Sullivan has eliminated 24 applicants who had less-than-desired levels of experience or education. Officials hope to start phone interviews next week as a preliminary vetting step, before finalists are invited to interview in person a couple of weeks later, Sullivan said.

The applicants are diverse in experience and residence. Although a lot of the applicants are from Routt County, Craig, or elsewhere in Colorado, many are from locales across the country, Sullivan said.

"Lots of applicants have some emergency management training, National Incident Management (System) certifications," Sullivan said. "Not everyone has wildlife experience : but we can train them when they get here."

Other applicants have experience in emergency management consulting or have worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Sullivan is forming an interview committee to help review applications, sit in on interviews and rank the applicants. Vale has been asked to participate, along with District Forester John Twitchell, U.S. Forest Service Fire Management Officer Mark Cahur, Steamboat Springs Police Department Capt. Joel Rae, Routt County Sheriff Gary Wall, Routt County Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak and West Routt Fire Protection District Chief Bryan Rickman.

Sullivan said Sue Birch, chief executive officer of the Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association, also has expressed interest in serving on the committee, and Sullivan said he'd like to add someone from a public health background.

In taking the job as the state's northwest region emergency management field manager, Vale will be "carrying on a passion that I have with a little different hat," he said in December.

The job includes providing technical assistance to local agencies in the region before, during and after major emergencies and natural disasters. The post also includes offering training activities, developing and validating emergency plans, and improving interagency cooperation.

The state's northwest region serves Eagle, Garfield, Grand, Jackson, Mesa, Moffat, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, Routt and Summit counties.