On the outskirts of Denver lies an unassuming building that, in contrast to its humble exterior, is the beating heart of federal firefighting efforts in the Rocky Mountains. Walking through the doors of the Rocky Mountain Area Fire Cache, you would never realize that they support thousands of firefighters every year.

Everything a firefighter needs

From the floor to the ceiling, metal shelves are filled with equipment and pallets stacked with supplies. This centralized hub for storing, managing and distributing firefighting gear is ready for the season. It’s where you’ll find everything needed to support a firefighter. Every item and tool has its own story. 

Tools you’ll find in the fire cache:

• Freshly sharpened – specialized axes used for digging, chopping wood and creating firelines

• Tightly wound fire hose reels

• Bright orange chainsaws

• Newly refurbished red drip torches – used to ignite controlled burns for creating backfires

• Prepositioned radio starter kits – pre-packaged communication equipment that ensures crews can quickly establish communication in remote areas

• Recently tested and cleaned sprinkler kits–used to protect structures and create firelines with water barriers

• Water pumps – high-pressure portable fire pumps that help pull water from natural sources

• Fire shelters – last resort safety device designed to reflect heat and shield firefighters from flames

• Hand tools like shovels, and hoes are used to dig firelines and remove fuel sources

• Tents

• Five-gallon clear water containers

• Ready-to-eat meals known as MREs keep crews fed in the field for long shifts when returning to camp isn’t an option

…and so much more. Everything firefighters need to create a base camp from which to fight a wildfire.

Fire camps serve as the central hub during wildfire response, like a small, pop-up city that supports the needs of hundreds of firefighters and support staff working long hours on the fireline. They are often set up in open areas like fairgrounds or school fields. Within fire camps, there are several facilities, including sleeping quarters usually in the form of tents, mobile kitchens, medical units, planning trailers, and sometimes yurts housing different functional areas. The fire cache supplies help build the fire camp from the ground up.

The 11 fire caches that the USDA Forest Service operates nationwide, including the Rocky Mountain Area Fire Cache, are the backbone for supporting wildfire incidents and incident management teams, providing the supplies and equipment for them to meet their mission. They always stand ready to provide support for wildfires, prescribed burns, and other all-risk incidents such as floods, hurricanes and search and rescue efforts throughout the year.

The season heats up

As fire season begins to ramp up, usually beginning in May and running sometimes through October or later, the cache provides 7-day coverage, 10 hours a day. And during peak season, there may be more than 70 employees managing the Rocky Mountain Cache, even hiring additional staff if needed. Additional staff are often hired for temporary or emergency situations, particularly in fields like firefighting, and are often used for unique or hard-to-fill roles, especially in areas like emergency response.

The cache supports a total of five states: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Occasionally, a sister cache may be asked to support an out-of-region incident support because they are closer. Also, they may provide relief to a busy sister cache. The Rocky Mountain Cache was honored to provide support to Canada in 2023 and 2025.

Normal activity for the Rocky Mountain Cache team includes issuing more than $18 million in supplies and equipment directly to firefighters and shipping more than $19 million in transfers to support other caches across the U.S. In 2012 they supported 10 incidents, seven of which were large wildfires. Then in 2020, the Rocky Mountain Cache saw an uptick in needed support. They provided critical support to three of the largest regional fires in the region’s history with minimal staffing. To say they are busy is an understatement!

Keeping the gear in top shape

Even though a fire may be wrapping up, the work does not stop for a fire cache team. Supplies that are not used during the incident are returned; however, they do not return in the same shape they left. Firehoses, sent out clean and tightly coiled, return muddy, smelling like smoke, and may even have holes. All of the gear needs to be washed and cleaned, and the equipment needs to be tested and refurbished so it’s in good condition for the next incident.

The equipment needs to be safe, clean and in perfect working order to ensure that the next incident has the best possible equipment ready to go for the next call. Someone’s life may depend on it.

What about when old gear can’t be repaired and must be replaced?

Before any new equipment is purchased, the entire cache system is screened for redistribution from other caches. This prevents a surplus of an item that another cache needs. When new supplies and equipment are required, new inventory is requested from the Defense Logistics Agency or the General Services Administration, or bulk purchased through contracting, which is coordinated by the Rocky Mountain Area Fire Cache itself instead of going through another agency. All told, the Forest Service helps ensure adequate supplies of more than 170 different items for the National Interagency Support Cache system.

It’s a family

A fire cache is more than just the materials, though. It’s made up of dedicated, hard-working people committed to ensuring firefighters and emergency responders receive the best possible support in responding to incidents. These Forest Service staff work day-in and day-out from before fire season begins to long after it ends.

Both Assistant Cache Manager, Andrew Beach, and Cache Manager, Humberto Ontiveros, are perfect illustrations of the tight-knit community that is the fire cache network. Hired initially as additional staff, the two men both went on to become seasonal employees and eventually permanent employees.

"At the Rocky Mountain Area Support Cache, we believe that building a strong family culture is the foundation of our success,” said Humberto Ontiveros. “When we support each other like family, we create an environment where everyone feels valued, empowered, and motivated to achieve greatness together."

“We are all fueled by a shared passion, helping others,” agreed Andrew Beach. “Fire season can be long and grueling. We face daily challenges together and have become more than just a team – we’ve become a work family. It’s not just about getting the job done; it’s about showing up for each other, day after day.”

Now Beach and Ontiveros are section leaders and thriving supervisors. The culture of this cache is building leaders.

Supporting success

Every year, firefighters brave danger and peril to keep communities safe. It’s the role of the Forest Service fire cache network, including the Rocky Mountain Fire Cache, to support those firefighters and ensure they stay safe by providing them with what they need, when they need it.

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