Staff Reports

Photo of Academy recruits in front of the new mural in downtown Elizabeth

Calls for Service Analysis

As of the report date, we are on call #811 for the year. We are currently averaging 4.45 calls per day with an annual pace of 1626. 

Staffing

We remain fully staffed on the part-time and full-time rosters, and we continue to see an increase in reserve applications coming in. We are also bringing on two more members of the water supply unit. They will begin training under Mike Bilbo and will ultimately be able to bring tenders for our fires once they are qualified.

Strategic Planning and Post Tax Initiative

We have been researching many factors in the recent legislation, and I believe we have found some potential relief. We were able to clarify that the Special Session actions by legislators did not take away local voter approved initiatives. We are only bound by the limits established from HB24B-1001. Basically, we are still able to adjust our mils up to the 7.2% equivalent provided that the total increase does not exceed 5.5% (10% over 2 years).

We are still researching all of the details of this and even the State is trying to figure out how to decipher the law, but this news could help alleviate some of our financial concerns. We still need to continue our discussion and planning to restore lost revenue in the future.

Facilities

It’s very nice to be slow on facility upgrades and repairs. Our First In units are working well, and all the exterior doors have been reinforced with security plates. In 1987, American Airlines saved $40,000 by removing one olive from each salad served in first-class.

We are looking at possibly repaving Station 271 this year if we can. The asphalt continues to degrade and will need something done soon. We are hoping not to put it off again.

ELCO Fire Chiefs

Chiefs had a spicy meeting last month with ECCA leaders over radio programming. Basically, all county radios need to be reprogrammed so that we can communicate with Law Enforcement over encrypted channels. The problem is ECCA can’t afford it. Total cost for all radios is around $250k. The Fire Chiefs have elected to hold off on our programming to save money, but we won’t be able to communicate on the law channel for now. We asked the Sheriff to commit to training his staff to come to our channels when we need interoperability. He told us it wasn’t a problem to have them switch to a common channel on fire-related incidents. One of the keys to success will be our dispatchers’ abilities to communicate critical information between themselves and then pass it on to each discipline.

Community Leaders and Area Managers (CLAMS)

CLAMS will be meeting this week. I don’t anticipate too many big issues or announcements. At the last meeting, we discussed the school district’s involvement in the legal action regarding books in the libraries. We also discussed the Stampede Rodeo impact on all the agencies and how we can continue to provide services during high impact events.

Elbert County Communication Authority (ECCA)

We are anticipating the start of the new ECCA Administrator this month. Perry Lundquist was hired last month and comes from an extensive IT/Radio background. We look forward to Perry joining us, and we are hoping to redirect ECCA out of the infrastructure business and more into financial support of its users.

I’m planning to reach out to the State of Colorado and see what it would take to have them take over the radio infrastructure in the county so that we can re-utilize some of the funds for other projects.

Legislative

There is a new rumor going around that the Governor may ask for yet another special session to address the property tax issues. I have no idea if this will bring relief…or yet more trouble. Honestly, there is no telling. I will try to keep up on the information and forward as I get it.

Chiefs Summit

Our 1st annual Eastern Colorado Fire Chiefs Summit was a hit. We had 35 attendees, and most of the Chiefs had good opportunities to express their concerns and share information back and forth. They unanimously voted to keep meeting at least annually. Although I didn’t intend to ruffle feathers with Colorado State Fire Chiefs, I did. I guess they were concerned that I was trying to secede from the main group, but of course that wasn’t true. The good news is that CSFC was forced to look at the problems going on out East, and maybe we will have better representation in the future.

One of the most trending topics of the day was staffing and adequate recruitment in rural communities. After listening to the stories, I am convinced that Eastern Colorado will see major decreases in service over the next 5 years without some sort of intervention.

Photo of Academy recruits training

Prevention/Administration

• I have had an increase in plan submittals from the County this month. The Pine Ridge Estates (160 lots west of Walmart) and some smaller rezones are in the preliminary plat stage of the development.
• I met with the DA for the Town of Elizabeth to talk about our Juvenile Fire Setter Program. We would like our program to be court ordered for all juvenile firesetters in the Town of Elizabeth. The program would provide an assessment of the juvenile and their family and also education on the risks of misusing fire.
• I had a meeting with Elbert County Road and Bridge, the BOCC, and the school district about the Singing Hills Elementary school pick-up line extending onto CR 166. The school district has a plan in place to use their new parking lot as a cueing line to get more cars off of the main road. We will monitor this as the new school year starts.
• I have started talks with Elbert County and the Town of Elizabeth on the adoption of the Wildland Resiliency code. This code will need to be adopted in both jurisdictions by March 1^st. The code applies to all new residential and commercial buildings and remodels at certain percentages. There is a structure hardening and vegetation management for these structures. We will need to figure out which agency will be enforcing each part of the code.
• Ryan and I, with the help of the crews, had 2 station tours for a home school group. I forgot how much fun it was to teach the kiddos.
• Erin’s last day was on Monday but she was able to teach a babysitting class this month.

Fire Prevention Specialist (Ryan Seng)

• The State Forest Service held a contractor show-me at all the subdivisions on July 1^st. Contractors took notes and will submit their bids and quotes sometime in mid-July. The State Forest Service will go over the bids with us and will pick one or more contractors to be responsible for the work.
• Crews have completed 27% of their inspections with 19% of their preplans completed. 29% of self-inspections have been completed.

Pre-Application Meetings

Photo of Pre-Application Meetings

In the month of June, our auditor was in the office to complete his fieldwork. The financial statements for 2024 will be presented at the July board meeting.

We met with our insurance agent this month for a review of our liability insurance. There is an increase in our premiums, but it will be locked in for 3 years.

This month, we had an orientation for the promotion of 2 reserves, Lucas Vasquez and Jordan Burton, to part-time firefighters. These two are very excited to be a part of our family.

One of our investments came due in June, and I was able to roll it over for another 4 months at a good interest rate. We have collected 66% of the property taxes levied. Our June payment will be a big payment due to the property tax due date of June 30th.

I have started work on the 2026 budget. We did get some preliminary assessed numbers for 2026 but those will not be official until August. We did find out that we should be able to still adjust our mill levy from our previous ballot measure.

EMS collection for June $38,596.31

Development and Impact Fees:

Zone 1 $500,120.62

Zone 2 $17,364.15

Zone 3 $18,416.05

Gift Agreement $307,833.80

Infrastructure Fund $99,450.00

Photo of Lucas Vasquez, former A-Shift Reserve and current Part-Time Firefighter

Photo of Jordan Burton, former A-Shift Reserve and current Part-Time Firefighter

• Another Elizabeth Stampede has gone, and I have to say that, besides the weather, this was one of the quietest Stampedes I have seen for Fire/EMS. We had a few minor medical calls in the crowd that were handled by our roving EMS crews, and two calls for a response from Station 271.
• Still no word from dispatch on a date for the CAD to CAD integration. The program is running on the test side of CAD right now, and they are fixing minor issues as they pop up. DRDC is wanting to use our agency as a toning test platform again when they feel they are ready to get the program live.
• DRDC has made changes in CAD to the terminology for MVA call types. This was more of an administrative change and just changed terminology from “MVA” to “MVC”. Additionally they have added new call types including: MVC Crash Detection, Elevator Rescue, Train Derailment, and Fire, Multi Family Structure. I have created new response plans for these call types (except Train Derailment) and added them to CAD. The Hundley Apartments has also been classified as a Large Multi Family address, so it should pull these new response plans for a structure fire call at that location. Lastly, I also restructured our Operations Channel assignments in CAD to coordinate better with other agencies in the county that are using those channels as well.
• It looks like our Support Services program is starting to gain some traction. We have one new water ops volunteer currently in training with Mike Bilbo, another one that just went through interviews, and another retired firefighter interested in joining. These folks are spread around the district and could be a big help for Tender responses from multiple stations. This would be a big step forward.
• I spoke with Asher Straw at Front Range Fire Apparatus today referencing the new engine orders. The only update he had was there was a slight pushback on the time frame for the Type 3 due to the delay in financing issues we had. I still expect this truck to be delivered this fall. I requested Asher to put me on his list for a monthly update so we can keep informed if there are any problems.
• The 1st quarter NFIRS report was sent into the state and returned with no critical errors. This is the first time I have seen this report come back with no errors, which is a testament to the crews doing great quality control when reviewing the reports!

Photo of Academy recruits training

• The 2025 FFI Academy is wrapping up. July 12th is their last day, and I'm sure they are all excited to be able to enjoy the rest of the summer. They all passed their State practical JPRs. This is a solid group, and they have done a great job this year. We will be holding their graduation at Station 271 on July 30th at 1800hrs.
• I had a pipeline safety training set up for July 16th and 17th but had to cancel those. I'll be looking at some August dates to reschedule.
• I'm working with Elizabeth PD and ELCO Sheriff's Office to bring a Traffic Incident Management Safety (TIMS) training to our members. One of the new EPD officers is an instructor and will give us a roadway safety training. I am shooting for August/September to host this session.
• We have had quite a few members attend outside trainings and a handful more are attending sessions in September. The trainings include ladders, DO Pumper, Fire Instructor, and HazMat Tech.
• Chief Brown is helping me line out a training with CORE electric. They have a mobile trailer that simulates live power lines, and we think this training will be extremely beneficial to all of us.
• As the State continues to cut important funding for the Fire Service in general, they have cut the funding for the Behavioral Health Trust to almost nothing. All Colorado Firefighters were given $10,000 per year to use towards therapy. As of July 1, that amount has been reduced to $1000 over our career. I'll be reaching out to the Trust to see what they have planned to try to get some of these benefits back.
• Thank you to Chief Steck for lining out the Douglas County Helicopter training. The training was very beneficial to numerous agencies, and it was a lot of fun.

Photo of Academy recruit Slade Allen

Photo of Academy recruit Erik Forsythe

Photo of Academy recruit Caitlin McGhee

Photo of Academy recruit Conner Ryan

Photo of Academy recruit Zachary Tyler

Photos of Academy recruits and instructors during the 2025 Academy

• We have added our NERIS demo account to our Image Trend site. The next step is to configure our new run form and various setting the way we want it. Once that is complete I'll be recruiting a few members to complete some practice reports to work out any bugs or formatting problems. Our current plan is to make the official transition from NFIRS to NERIS on January 1st 2026.
• First-In update - The antenna grounding issue at all stations has been resolved and the system now seems to be functioning as it should with the exception to a few configuration bugs with Douglas Dispatch that we're working through with them.
• EMTS Grant - We were awarded the 2026 EMTS grant! This grant is a 50% match with the State funding $49,778 toward the purchase of three Stryker Auto-load systems. Big thanks to Lt. Regan for heading this one up and everyone else who contributed to make sure it was successful!
• Congratulations to Lucas Vasquez and Jordan Burton for their promotion to part-time EMT/Firefighter! They are super excited and will be starting their new roles on July 1st.
• SAFER Grant - This grant has been submitted. We requested funding assistance to add an additional three full time employees over three years for a total of $817,695. This one is always a long shot, but even if we aren't awarded, it shows the dedication to our community by always searching for alternative funding to meet their needs.
• The Stampede was a success and relatively quiet. Thank you to all our members who helped work the EMS coverage shifts and make it a smooth operation!

EMS Calls (excluding "no patient"):

• June 2024 = 70 (56 Transports/80%)
• June 2025 = 89 (56 Transports/63%)

Photos of crews with the wildland boots received through the funding from the Firefighter Safety and Disease Prevention Grant

"Shoutout to Trace Tobin, Brittany McGhee, and Angel Navarro for passing their DO Pumper."

"Congratulations to LT Regan and crew who applied for and received the EMTS grant!"

This year, our new year's resolution is to help our community get to know us better! We’ve introduced a new item to our social media accounts, titled “Firefighter Friday,” where, every Friday, we introduce another member of our staff to our community. This has been very well received by the members of our District. Below are the Firefighter Friday highlights for the month of June.

This month, we highlighted Battalion Chief Jeff Brown, Paramedic-Firefighter Micah Peterson, Lieutenant Colt Tyler, and Part-Time Firefighter EMT Jonah Wagner!