About the Fire Authority…
The Roaring Fork Fire Rescue Authority provides fire suppression, fire prevention, emergency medical services, and rescue services to 516 square miles of the mid-Roaring Fork Valley and Snowmass Village area. The Response area is in both Eagle County and Pitkin County. It includes the incorporated towns of Basalt and Snowmass Village, and many unincorporated areas including El Jebel, Missouri Heights, Old Snowmass, and the Thomasville/Meredith area.
Most of the Authority is comprised of single-family and multi-family residential homes. In the outer areas, small ranches are common. Much of the fire authority is Federal land owned by the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Authority is traversed by Highway 82, a heavily traveled highway between Glenwood Springs and Aspen.
The Authority provides services with a volunteer force and full-time staff that function together to provide emergency services. There are five fire stations located throughout the Authority. Station 41 is located in Basalt, Station 42 (administrative offices) is located in El Jebel, Station 43 is located in Thomasville, Station 44 is located in Old Snowmass, Station 45 is in Snowmass Village, and Station 46 on West Sopris Creek Road.
The Authority has six ambulances that are staffed by career personnel and volunteers who sign up for an average of 12 hours/week. Volunteers are issued a radio, giving them the ability to carry on with their normal activities and respond to the closest station when a call comes in.
Firefighters have various pieces of apparatus to use when responding to the large variety of calls they handle. There is apparatus for structure fires, wildland fires, automobile extrication, specialized rescue, and water rescue. Fire and rescue responses are handled on an “all-call” basis. When a call comes in, all available members must respond to the nearest station and then proceed to the scene, according to the operating procedures or a fire officer’s direction.
The Authority is governed by a publicly elected Board of Directors, containing six members. The Board meets once a month and provides general policies for the Authority's operation and approves all expenditures. Like most fire departments, this organization runs under a “para-military” structure. The highest ranking officer on the scene of an emergency is usually in charge and passes assignments down to other officers, who supervise the members. The dangerous nature of our business requires quick actions, tight controls, and a firm chain of command. There is not usually time for group discussion, consensus building, or voting when an emergency is in progress. After a call is finished, there is an opportunity to ask questions, discuss decisions made and look for ways to improve our services. The meetings and training sessions also offer an opportunity to discuss calls.
The volunteer fire and emergency medical services are unique. Very few other volunteer organizations require as much initial training and ongoing training to remain an active member. Very few volunteer organizations are required to expose their members to the amount of risk that the fire service does. Very few volunteer organizations have their members carrying out the same responsibilities as full-time professionals in larger communities. Very few volunteer organizations (or full-time careers) require their members to drop everything they are doing at a moment’s notice, to get up at 2:00 AM, or leave their family on Christmas morning to help a stranger, neighbor, or friend in trouble. Then, of course, very few other volunteer organizations give you the satisfaction of meeting extreme challenges, working with fellow members on difficult calls, or seeing the face of someone who can’t even begin to express how grateful they are that you arrived to help them.
