Brief History

The National Park Service established its Interagency Hotshot Crew program in May of 1981. These Hotshot Crews were the first Hotshot crews funded by the Department of Interior and were known as Arrowhead One, Two, and Three and originally stationed in Arizona, California, and Wyoming. In 1982 the names were changed to Alpine, Arrowhead, and Bison IHCs. These names were derived from the National Park Service emblem. In 1985 budgetary constraints eliminated Bison IHC.

Alpine has been assigned to several different duty stations during its history including Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Zion National Parks. In 1993 Alpine was reassigned to its current location in Rocky Mountain National Park where the crew moved into a new work center and dormitory facility in view of Longs Peak. Although the majority of Alpines' suppression assignments are to locations other than Rocky Mountain National Park, prescribed fire and fuels reduction projects provide plenty of work in the "Front Range" area. Primary dispatching duties for the crew are handled by the Fort Collins Interagency Dispatch in Fort Collins, CO. Interregional resource orders are received through the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center (RMACC) located in Lakewood.