Albany County Seeks CERT Volunteers for Emergency Response Training

When a fast-moving grass fire tore through vegetation near mile marker 310 on Interstate 80 in West Laramie on November 10, 2025, it scorched 56 acres, cut power across parts of the city, and forced evacuations from neighborhoods east of the highway before more than half a dozen fire and emergency agencies brought it to full containment just after midnight. Five months later, Albany County's Office of Emergency Management is looking for more people who could help when the next one hits.

The county's Community Emergency Response Team is actively recruiting volunteers, with the push timed to the weeks just before wildfire season and spring snowmelt from the Medicine Bow Mountains.

CERT volunteers are not firefighters and are not sent into active hazard zones. Their work fills the gap between when a large incident begins and when professional responders can fully extend their reach. In a grass fire evacuation, CERT members help establish and staff emergency shelters, support people moving out of threatened neighborhoods, and manage incoming donations so that incident commanders can stay focused on containment. After a blizzard closes I-80 between Laramie and Elk Mountain, stranding motorists in subzero conditions, CERT-trained residents can help set up warming centers and coordinate with county dispatch. Volunteers are also trained in light search and rescue and basic triage, and they assist with flood mitigation operations including sandbagging along drainages that rise quickly during spring runoff.

Outside of active response, CERT members support year-round mitigation work: community Firewise education programs that reduce structural fire risk in neighborhoods near rangeland, and post-storm damage assessments that help the county document losses accurately and direct recovery resources where they are needed most.

Albany County's geography makes trained surge capacity more than a precaution. The high-altitude I-80 corridor threads through terrain that can slide from dry conditions to full whiteout within a single weather system. Multi-vehicle incidents can strand travelers well before enough emergency resources arrive from Laramie or Carbon County. Wind-driven fires near the city's western edge, as November demonstrated, can reach residential neighborhoods with almost no lead time.

Residents who want to join Albany County CERT can get started through the county's Emergency Management office at 2374 W. Jefferson Street in Laramie. The county's Community Emergency Response Team page carries details on upcoming training schedules, session requirements, and how to register. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact the office directly to confirm enrollment timing before the program's next training cohort fills.