About the District

The Carbondale Fire Department has an integrated staff of career and volunteer firefighters and EMTs.  The volunteer firefighters and EMTs have the same responsibilities and training requirements as the career firefighters and EMTs, and are eligible to join special response teams within the department such as swift water rescue, technical rescue and wildland firefighter.  Volunteers are required to do day and overnight shifts at our main station and carry a pager or radio to respond for incidents when they are at home or work.

Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District is a Colorado Special District that provides fire suppression, fire prevention, emergency medical services and rescue services to 300 square miles of the Crystal River and Roaring Fork Valley areas.  Approximately two thirds of the District is in Garfield County, and the other third is in Pitkin and Gunnison Counties. It includes Carbondale, Redstone, Marble and a portion of Glenwood Springs.   The majority of District operations occur in Carbondale within the administration building and the Carbondale fire station, Station 81.  In addition, there are four outlying stations located throughout the District, Station 82 is located in Redstone, Station 83 is located in Marble, Station 84 is located off County Road 154 in Glenwood Springs and Station 85 is located off of County Road 100 on Missouri Heights.

Most of the District is comprised of single family and multi-family residential homes. In the outer areas, small ranches are common. Much of the District is Federal land owned by the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Carbondale and Highway 82 areas have a fair amount of light commercial and service-based industrial buildings.

It is the District’s mission to serve the communities within Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District and help create a safer environment through the provision of quality emergency services, public education, and prevention programs with a professional dedicated force of volunteers and paid staff.

• We accept volunteer applications throughout the year however, volunteer recruitment begins in the fall for the annual New Member Academy that starts in January.  Applications for any January New Member Academy should be submitted by September 1st. 
• All applicants accepted into the fire department must complete a mandatory New Member Academy.  The New Member Academy course schedule may vary depending on needs.  Generally, the New Member Academy will require attendance of the Colorado Mountain College EMT Basic Course and Firefighter I Academy.  As you navigate through this section, we encourage you to go through each link below before filling out the online application form.   
• Acceptance of new volunteers is based on the needs of the district.