The Larimer County Yellow Jackets Fire Crew has provided wild land fire suppression resources for more than 30 years to the residents and fire depts. of Larimer County. Supervised and coordinated by the Emergency Services Unit of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, this fire program has maintained a very high standard and is known throughout the western United States for its training and safety quality.
The crew is composed of individuals specifically trained and nationally certified for wild land fire suppression. In addition to providing fire personnel for Larimer County, Yellow Jackets firefighters provide the bulk of personnel for a Type II fire crew that travels throughout the United States during Fire season .
To be a part of the crew you must be 18 years old, and successfully complete a week long training program that includes 24 hours of classroom training and 16 hours of hands on field work. Candidates for the program must also pass a physical fitness test. The classroom training includes S-130, Basic Wild land Firefighter; S-190, Basic Fire Behavior; Standards for Survival; and Look Up, Look Down and Look Around. When the classroom training, field training and physical testing are complete, students are placed on the fire crew call list and/or issued pagers. When fires occur they are called or paged to respond to the Emergency Services Center, where they are then transported to the incident. Firefighters are paid based on their skills and position.
The Yellow Jacket Crew also accepts individuals from other agencies that meet the Yellow Jacket training standard and are current in the National Wild land Fire Coordinating Group (NWCG) standards.
If you would like to learn more about the Yellow Jackets program, please contact the Larimer County Emergency Services Unit, Fire Program Coordinator at 498-5302 or the Larimer County Information Line at 498-5312.