More than $1.3 million in grant money was recently awarded to the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District and eight other fire departments to help address recruiting and retention for their staffs.
Aside from Upper Pine, western Colorado fire departments in Palisade, Hotchkiss, Crawford, Paonia, Yampa and the Rock Creek Volunteer Fire Department, based in McCoy, were included. Other fire departments included as recipients are Rocky Ford, located in southeast Colorado, and the Four Mile Fire Protection District in Florissant, about 35 miles west of Colorado Springs.
Rock Creek Fire Chief Brita Horn took note of the struggle to recruit and retain employees and approached the region’s fire chiefs about applying for the “Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response” grant as a group, according a news release from Upper Pine.
“Our part time firefighters and EMT’s give so much,” Upper Pine Chief Bruce Evans said in the release. “I saw this as a way to help our firefighters stay here in the Pine River valley, a way to better support their health and financial needs.”
Those rural departments are struggling with recruiting and retaining “young, able-bodied firefighters who are willing and able to protect their communities” partially as a result of the rising cost of living and limited economic opportunities in those areas, according to the release. Inadequate staffing among those departments relate to the towns’ smaller populations and “high demands placed on” volunteer firefighters, the release said.
That, in turn, is causing younger workers to relocate to cities or resort towns for better job prospects, the release added.
The grant money will pay for “financial incentives and crucial safety gear to make volunteering or part time service more accessible and sustainable for community members,” covering things like personal protective equipment, annual health physicals and a monthly stipend for health care expenses, the release said.
The grant will remove “barriers that have deterred potential part time or volunteer firefighters and will give first responders the resources” necessary to do their jobs effectively, the release said.
mhollinshead@durangoherald.com
