Montana Department of Transportation

Smokejumper Base

Immediately adjacent to Yellowstone Airport is the West Yellowstone smokejumper base. This base is one of nine permanent smokejumper bases located throughout the western United States.

During the summer, the base is home to 21 smokejumpers, pilots for the jump plane and retardant tanker, an office manager, and a tanker base manager. The base also supports visiting jumpers, tankers and other aerial resources during times of high fire activity. During the fire season, a Lockheed Orion P-3 is based at the Yellowstone Airport to support fire-fighting activities in the area.

Tours of the base are available in the summer, workload permitting. For more information, contact the West Yellowstone Interagency Fire Center, PO Box 610, West Yellowstone, MT 59758, Tel. 406-646-7691.