The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is a large, multi-faceted organization that is mandated by Colorado state statute to provide a number of critical public safety and life-saving services to the citizens of El Paso County and the surrounding region. One of those mandates is to provide wildland fire management. The Sheriff’s Office Wildland Fire Team falls under the Emergency Services Section of the Sheriff’s Office which is staffed by a combination of paid staff and volunteer members comprised of citizens of El Paso County and the surrounding areas. These amazing people come from all walks of life and are dedicated to the preservation of lives and properties.
Today, an unknown person posted to the El Paso County Wildland Fire Twitter account (@epcwildland) a message that 18 volunteer firefighters resigned en masse. Subsequent information posted to that same Tweet by an unknown Wildland Fire Twitter account user indicated the resignations were due to a hostile environment. It further referenced a letter detailing grievances that had been delivered to the Sheriff. We are looking into the source of these Tweets. While there have been some resignations by members of the EPC Wildland Fire Team, the information posted was not accurate.
Until further notice, any information relevant to the EPC Wildland Fire Team will be disseminated by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Office through media release, our Facebook account (EPC Sheriff’s Office), our Instagram account (@epcsheriff), our NextDoor account (El Paso County Sheriff’s Office), and/or our Twitter account (@EPCSheriff). Any information put out until further notice from the EPC Wildland Fire Twitter handle (@epcwildland) is not official communication from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office Wildland Fire Team remains committed, equipped, staffed, and ready to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days week, 365 days a year, to suppress wildland fires in our region and save lives and property. There has been no interruption to this capability or to the services available to El Paso County.
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