COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The city's offer to rush three fire engines to the Hayman fire to help protect homes was ignored, according to newly released records.

Volunteer departments in the Lake George area also have said they were not asked to help fight a fire that ultimately became the biggest in the state's history.

Within hours of learning the Hayman fire had ignited near Lake George, Colo., on June 8, Colorado Springs firefighters offered three city fire engines. The U.S. Forest Service didn't call back for four days, according to records.

Fire commanders had pleaded for more engines as the fire burned homes and raged through the forest. The offer to help is listed in Forest Service dispatch logs released this week.

Records show Bob Harvey, a Colorado Springs wildland team member, called the Pueblo Interagency Dispatch Center, run by the Forest Service, at 8:36 p.m. Saturday, June 8.

That was less than four hours after forester Terry Barton reported the blaze. Barton later was accused of starting the fire. Harvey offered three structure-protection engines, and left his telephone and pager numbers with a dispatcher.

John Gibbons, operations chief for the Colorado Springs department, said when the Forest Service called Wednesday, June 12, he sent 13 firefighters and three engines.

They fought the blaze for 12 days as the Hayman swallowed 137,000 acres and destroyed 133 homes. "Where the disconnect happened (between) the day the fire started and the 12th, I don't know," Gibbons said.

Forest Service officials at the Pueblo center couldn't be reached for comment.

Jim Krugman, U.S. Forest Service operations chief for the five-state Rocky Mountain region, has admitted communication problems among agencies occurred.

He said dispatch center staffs are overwhelmed during the fire season, requiring the Forest Service to bring dispatchers from other states - people who may not be familiar with terrain and agencies.

Also, nobody from local and state agencies was on hand at the centers during the fire, though the state added one person temporarily to the Pueblo center in July.

Lastly, Krugman said that current dispatching equipment is outdated. A nationwide upgrade, to be installed for the 2003 fire season, will allow dispatchers to electronically track local, state and federal resources.

"We've got to get better at knowing what resources are available," said Krugman.