LOUISVILLE, Colo. (KDVR) — A group of Colorado Rangers is deployed in Louisville to help assist in the aftermath of the Marshall Fire.

From evacuations to the aftermath, local law enforcement has been working around the clock to serve and protect the Louisville community since the Marshall fire. Almost three weeks after the flames, support for those who serve is coming to Louisville from the Colorado Rangers, the first statewide police reserve in the country. 

“These are all officers that have been trained through POST police academies and are certified reserve officers and come from the community in times of need,” Colorado Rangers Chief Ronald Abramson said.

Wednesday, the Colorado Rangers were serving 25 communities across the state. Louisville had the help of 30 officers from the agency, and Abramson said they will assist for as long as they are needed.

“We’re helping with roadblocks, with access control, with patrol responsibilities to make the communities as safe as we can,” Abramson said. “We’re helping to prevent looting and so we’re providing a robust range of police support with Louisville PD with our officers.”

The Colorado Rangers was established in 1861 and “served as Colorado’s first statewide law enforcement agency until the 1920s.” Abramson said today, his officers take on the duties and potential dangers of full-time police officers, often with a pay of zero dollars.

“They have to go to police training and they have to get certified, but a reserve in Colorado cannot be paid by law, so our officers are not paid, they are working on their own time and volunteering their own time and doing the same work,” Abramson said. “The folks who are reserve police officers with our agency come from the community. We have doctors, and we have paramedics and fire personnel, and a lot of pilots surprisingly — a lot of pilots are drawn to this. Just really impressive robust members of our community that want to give back.”