Staff Reports

Photo of crews on an outbuilding fire - Photo taken by Ethan Dunlop / 303firephotography

Calls for Service Analysis

As of the report date, we are on call #1078 for the year. We are currently averaging 4.38 calls per day with an annual pace of 1599. Our pace is slowing slightly for now, but I expect to see an increase with the start of the new school year.

Correspondence

Photo of correspondence received from the Town of Kiowa thanking the District for Elizabeth Fire crew assistance during the Elbert County Fair's kick-off fireworks display

We want to say a special thank you to Lucy Perrella-Franceus and Joseph Franceus for their generous donation and contribution to the District this month in honor and memory of Michael Perrella.

Photo of Michael "Mikie" Perrella in a fire department vehicle

Staffing

We were able to wish Paramedic-Firefighter and EMS Training Officer Tommy Gamboa the best of luck in his new move from Elizabeth Fire. Tommy has been with Elizabeth Fire for 10 years and has accepted a new opportunity as an educator with Advent Health. Tommy is excited to pursue his teaching passion and will be educating agencies in our area. He is interested in keeping a connection with Elizabeth Fire by working part-time once he settles into his new assignment.

Facilities

• Station 271 – The paving project is complete and went very well. We now have to stripe the parking spaces and ensure that we are compliant with parking requirements.
• Station 272 – Crews have been performing minor repairs to the bathrooms and other areas. I love that our crews take the initiative to make these repairs themselves to reduce costly repairs.
• Station 273 – Lt. Holt was able to work with the County to get some recycled asphalt and fix some of our looming drainage and surface issues. A big thank you to Casey for bringing his own tractor in to get that work done.

ELCO Fire Chiefs

ELCO Chiefs had a very productive closed meeting last month. We were able to discuss many items that had been looming for months, and we developed a plan to help ECCA continue on a solid path after Jim White retires.

Elbert County Communications Authority (ECCA)

ECCA has hired Perry Lundquist for the manager position. He started in late July and is currently working with Jim to understand the organization. They are also looking for a replacement financial manager. I believe they are looking at a firm, which seems like a good idea, but I don’t think they can afford it. Kara will be digging deeper into that effort as we progress through the end of the year.

Legislative

I haven’t seen the absolute results of the special session, but I suspect that the bills that were approved will not affect special districts much. The only impact may be the Medicare reimbursement that we would have normally received. It could be cut soon. Those cuts could mean a $150,000 - 200,000 deficit for us.

Elbert County Office of Emergency Management

The County has hired Jacob Love as the new Emergency Manager. Jacob was a paramedic with Elizabeth Fire many years ago and left to become a Sheriff’s Deputy. He then moved on to the hospital system and is now an Emergency Manager. I let Jacob know that we would do whatever we could to help him succeed but Kara and I have made a clear decision to be less involved in the County EM operations then in the past. We are hoping some of the other agencies will provide additional support when needed. The Ethiopian calendar is 7-8 years behind the Gregorian calendar and includes a 13th month.

Succession Planning

I advised our staff at our September staff meeting that I was building a comprehensive succession plan document that provides much more information about each position in the organization. The intent of the document will be to educate promotional candidates on the formal aspects of each position and also provide less formal expectations for each position. This way, candidates can look at each position and have a good idea of what may be required of them in the future. The informal descriptions are being written with assistance from our members that are already in the positions.

Chief G is also updating all of our position descriptions and duties descriptions that will be affected within the succession plan. I am confident that all of our interested members will at least have a strong understanding of the job they are interested in before they decide to move in that direction.

Public Sector Healthcare Group Authority

The Healthcare Group has been a very time consuming source of stress this last month. The groups claims have been exceptionally high in 2025, and there have been a number of catastrophic issues. We had to impose an 18% renewal rate for 2026 to help cover the claims, which, of course, increased everyone’s healthcare costs. We thought it was a very high renewal until we heard the other group renewal rates. Even with 18%, we remain 15-20% lower than other group rates. The high claims have been an issue lately, and, in fact, Colorado now boasts one of the highest healthcare costs in the nation. Surgeries alone in Colorado have increased by 40% in the last 12 months. We are also working through a CMS (Medicare/Medicaid) audit that has taken a lot of time. This has been a very successful venture for Elizabeth Fire but, right now, it is taking way too much time to manage. I hope to be giving my position as President away after the first of the year once we secure a new finance contractor. It is time to give someone else the opportunity to lead the group.

Think Tank Foundry

I’ve had the honor of being a member of this group for 4 years. We are a group of chiefs from across the nation that use a think tank model for mentorship and collaboration. We all meet quarterly online with an annual in-person session to vent, confide, and learn from each other. This is one of my most favorite events every year because it is three days of networking and bouncing ideas. From this group, I have learned that Elizabeth Fire is very lucky to be in the position we are in. Listening and learning what other agencies are going through has made me realize how successful we are as an organization. I am careful not to gloat in the events, but I quietly count my blessing to have such a wonderful team that knows right and wrong and works together with heart and purpose.

Photo of the chiefs in the Think Tank group

Colorado Fire Commission

The Eastern Chiefs Summit white paper that was developed over the summer has gained some traction and attention. So much so that the Colorado Fire Commission has asked me to present the white paper at their upcoming October meeting. This should be interesting as the Colorado State Fire Chiefs still aren’t totally happy with our efforts. It feels good to have a voice at the table finally. I guess the squeaky wheel does get the grease sometimes.

I have also been asked to chair a new committee from the Colorado Fire Commission: the CO-FIRE Committee. This committee would be formed to evaluate the need to create a statewide fire model similar (in concept) to CAL-FIRE. I was asked by the Director because of my many inquiries about what happens when a volunteer FD can no longer cover calls. My answer has always been CO-FIRE since there is really no other viable option. I can explain more about this committee if needed and, at this point, I haven’t accepted the appointment, and whether or not I do will depend on my other workload. I will be sure to keep you updated.

Prevention/Administration

• Singing Hills Elementary will have to replace their fire pump due to internal damage. The school is providing fire watch and has an hourly log that they are filling out. Ryan has been checking the log periodically to make sure the fire watch personnel are keeping up with their rounds. The school is looking at the option to change to an electric fire pump and working with CORE to see the feasibility of that change. The fire alarm system and pull stations are still active, and we are conducting regular fire drills at the building.
• I have been attending the peer review meetings for the new Colorado Wildland Resiliency Code. Each month, there is a new discussion of different ways departments are adopting the new code. The code needs to be adopted and enforceable by April 1, 2026. There is a lot of work to be done in both the County and the Town. I have included the map showing most of our District, including the Town of Elizabeth, in moderate or light risk. This would require some type of building material modifications and vegetation management plans for new residential and commercial. I will keep the Board updated as we move forward through this process.
• I reported last month on the road closure in the Overland subdivision. I received some correspondence with one of the homeowners regarding the cost to fix the road and bringing it up to code but he is having trouble getting all the homeowners on-board. I will be working on a letter to the residents on that dirt road about hinderance of response times during inclement weather.

Photo of a portion of the Elizabeth Fire Protection District from the 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code Map, showing the current risk of the District

Fire Prevention Specialist (Ryan Seng)

• Crews have completed 66% of their inspections with 56% of their preplans completed. 46% of self-inspections have been completed.
• The school year has officially started. The school district has hired two new Safety and Security Specialists, and I was able to meet them during their fire drills. I was able to bring them up to speed on our fire drill requirements and what our school inspections will look like in the coming months.
• I’ve scheduled our preschool readings for both Singing Hills Elementary and Running Creek Elementary for the school year.

Pre-Application Meetings

Photo of Pre-Application Meetings

Photos of crews and apparatus on an outbuilding fire - Photos taken by Ethan Dunlop / 303firephotography

For the month of August, we interviewed 3 applicants for EMS Training Officer and were able to add this duty to one of our employees.

One of employees resigned to work for Advent Health and will be back to help keep our employees trained in the world of EMS. We are hoping to promote one of our part-time paramedics to replace this opening.

Our district picnic was also this month, and we had a great turn out.

All budget entry has been completed for 2026; I have also received the assessed values for the 2026 budget year. I am waiting on DOLA for the best way to calculate our increase in property taxes for the next budget year.

Our hiring list process is still open for a few more weeks. This list will be completed by the end of September.

EMS collection for August $48,931.85

Development and Impact Fees:

Zone 1 $540,546.82

Zone 2 $17,364.15

Zone 3 $18,416.05

Gift Agreement $314,995.60

Infrastructure Fund $102,680

• No news on the Type 1 and Type 3 engines. Both are progressing as mentioned last month. Ambulances are scheduled to go to fleet this month for PMs. We have been putting enough miles on our medics now that I am scheduling oil and filter changes in the spring and full PMs in the fall. Also, we will be rotating some of the rigs around to try to balance the mileage before the new medic is delivered. Medic 271 is already up to 80k miles!
• Engine 273 had a turbo actuator fail last month. That was replaced and now the turbo has failed as well. Repairs for that should be completed this week.
• I am currently researching and pricing new gas detection monitors. Our current monitors are showing some age. One is currently out of service with a broken screen, and others are showing signs of sensors needing replaced. The price for the monitors is very similar but the current monitor sensors cost anywhere from $250-450. Sensors for the new monitors I am looking at are between $150-250, and the calibration gas is about half the cost. The new monitors will also be 5-gas detectors, which gives us the ability to monitor HCN as well as our other current 4 gases. This is a huge safety upgrade for our personnel on structure fires. These monitors will come from the Hazardous Materials budget but should show us a cost savings over time.
• Dispatch has added a new “Blue Response” call type. This call type will be primarily for Active Shooter type threats. I have drafted a new SOP for this which closely mimics mutual aid agencies and the 23rd Judicial District’s policies for these calls.
• We have had a few mapping and routing issues that have been forwarded to dispatch for repair. The problem appears to be roads that lost connection in GIS mapping and needed to be reconnected. Right now, it looks like the ones that have been identified are fixed.
• If you haven’t seen, the parking lot at Station 271 has been completely repaved. This is a nice addition. Striping paint has been ordered and that should be completed this month. We are also looking at quotes for painting the front bay doors to finish sprucing things up for the year.

Photos of the high voltage trailer demo training with CORE Electric

• I've reserved the Kiowa Training Center in September and October for our annual live burn trainings. C-Shift is scheduled for 9/21, B-Shift on 9/23, and A-Shift on 10/13.
• In July, I met with EPD to line out TIMS training in August, September, and October. We had dates set, but the CDOT instructor became unavailable, and we had to cancel all but the October session. I'm not completely sure the October training will take place, but I've kept in on the calendar for now.
• We have some minor changes coming to the FFI and FFII JPRs in July 2026. Our committee met this week and will be working on these changes in the next few months in order to stay ahead of the 2026 deadline for changes. The changes are very minor and mostly consist of wording within the JPRs.
• The CFTOA meeting in October will be interesting. There is an official proposal to change the passing written exam score from 80% to 70% for all written exams. This proposal stems from the horrendous failure rates for the HazMat Awareness/Ops written exam. This has been a hot topic for almost two years, and the HazMat test committee won't budge on the content of the exam. Even if the proposal is approved, I don't know exactly how long it will take to go into effect. I'll keep you all in the loop on what happens. As an agency, we may want to start diving into the pros and cons of going to CMCB in the future.

Top: Lt. Tyler and Firefighter McGhee with their National Fire Academy (NFA) class; Bottom: Chief Mackall with his NFA class

• We registered four members to attend the State EMS conference this year in Keystone. Three of the four have never been, so I'm excited to get some new faces up there and to have Paramedic Hinz show them the ropes.
• The EMS Training Officer promotion process was completed. We had three well qualified candidates who all did very well and made for tough competition. The position was offered to Shane Johnson, which he accepted and will start his new role September 1st. Congratulations, Shane!
• Tommy Gamboa accepted a full-time EMS coordinator position with Advent Health; his last day with Elizabeth Fire is August 27th. We're proud of Tommy and wish him the best in his new career where he will no doubt be successful! Congratulations, Tommy!
• Lt. Tyler, FF McGhee, and I finally made it out to the National Fire Academy for some great training. It's aways great to get out there and recharge the batteries.
• The application period for members to apply for department funding toward paramedic school closes on September 1st. So far, we've received two applications. We also have several others who are wrapping up their prerequisites, which is exciting.
• I received an update on the new ambulance build and we're most likely looking at a June 2026 delivery now, frustrating…

EMS Calls (excluding "no patient"):

• Aug 2024 = 65 (50 Transports / 77%)
• Aug 2025 = 71 (47 Transports / 66%)

"Big shoutout to Trace Tobin for doing such a great job with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) project!"

"Thank you to Lt. Holt for working on fixing that drainage issue at Station 273."

"Ryan, thanks again for stopping by yesterday and going over and checking our fire alarms for us. And a BIG thanks for being able to reach the alarm in the Master Bedroom and changing the battery. We slept great last night. Thanks again for your service!"

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 August.

This month, we highlighted Reserve Firefighter EMT Zachary Tyler, Part-Time Firefighter EMT Greg Tice, Battalion Chief Sean Mackall, Part-Time Firefighter EMT Adam Erway, and Support Services Volunteer - Water Operations Mike Bilbo!