Grand Teton National Park Fire Management Program Transfers Fire Engines to Rural Wyoming Fire Districts

Donated fire engine en-route to new location

Grand Teton National Park’s fire management program recently completed two property transfers of wildland fire engines to local cooperative fire departments who provide assistance to remote National Park Service (NPS) units.

Grand Teton National Park’s fire management staff provide oversight and assistance to three NPS units in Wyoming that are otherwise without any fire funded staff: Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA), Fossil Butte National Monument, and Fort Laramie National Historic Site.

“Response times to these areas from Grand Teton National Park are not practical for safe and efficient fire responses,” said Fire Management Officer Chip Collins. “Instead, each of these parks have developed strong relationships and interagency agreements with nearby partners.”

Over the past two years, wildland fire engines at Grand Teton National Park were replaced through normal lifecycle maintenance programs. Rather than dispose of the equipment through auction, the park sought out local cooperators near these NPS units that could benefit from a property transfer.

In 2018, Grand Teton National Park transferred a fire engine formerly stationed at park headquarters in Moose to the Torrington Volunteer Fire Department, which has a mutual aid agreement with Ft. Laramie. This allows Torrington to help provide fire suppression with Fort Laramie when needed.

“We are very excited to be the recipient of this truck,” said Torrington Volunteer Fire Department Chief Lance Petsch. “Its addition to the fleet gives us four-wheel-drive structural fire protection capabilities, which is something our department has been lacking.”

In the spring of 2019, Grand Teton National Park replaced its engine from Colter Bay. This time, the surplus engine was transferred to the Bighorn County Fire District station in Hyattville, Wyoming, near Bighorn Canyon NRA’s southern boundary where many wildfires tend to occur. Initial responders to these incidents are primarily county fire district personnel coming from Lovell, Hyattville, and other county stations.

“Without our strong partnership with the local volunteer fire departments, response times to incidents in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area would be delayed and less effective,” said Bighorn Canyon Superintendent Mike Tranel. “The addition of this engine to the Bighorn County Fire District gives responders a key piece of equipment tailored to wildland response.”

This project is part of the Department of the Interior’s Rural Fire Readiness Program and directly supports the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy by improving the safety, capacity, and capabilities of rural and volunteer local fire departments.

“In these more rural parts of the state, the NPS relies heavily upon local volunteer fire districts to assist in the safe and efficient response to wildland fires,” added Collins. “Without the strong relationships with these departments, our wildland fire suppression efforts would be greatly diminished.”