In the early days of the Town of Fort Lupton, Fires were fought by various residents of the community
Fire buckets and ladders were situated around the town near community pumps. A bucket brigade was used to combat the fires.
As the town developed a water system, two-wheeled hose carts were purchased to replace the fire buckets. The first report of a fire was reported in the Rocky Mountain News on November 8th, 1967 when a fire destroyed 75 tons of hay, 240 bushels of grain, 9 pigs and 30 chickens.
In 1898, the town saw a need
for a fire protection and a small group started the fire department. A
meeting was held on December 1, 1898 with a large community attendance.
H. Burton was elected the first Fire Chief, V. A. Simons was named
Captain, and E. K. Smith was appointed Secretary.
A committee was formed to consider
fundraising and purchase of apparatus. In 1908, the department was
formally named the Fort Lupton Fire Department. Following a large fire
at the
The first truck was a Ford Model "T" purchased in 1916. This unit served the community until it was replaced with a Model "A" in 1930.
In 1936, a front mount pump was installed on the Model "A". This truck is still in the department and was refurbished in 2001. The number of trucks and equipment for the department has continued to grow since 1943. in the 1940's the siren was used to notify the department of calls. The firemen would call the phone operator when they heard the siren and tell her the color of the month and they would get the information of the call.
In April 1950, the fire department purchased a lot at the corner of Fourth Street and Park Avenue for the construction of a new fire house. Funds to build the station were generated through the Fireman's Ball as well as borrowing money from the pension fund and construction was expected to cost about 80,000.00. Ground was broken on June 7, 1951, the Fort Lupton Fire Protection District was formed under a Special District. This included the surrounding area of the Town of Fort Lupton. The District Board of Directors was Georg Friertah, Everett Hogeln, Fred Whitney, Sr. Gill Scott, and Orvin Bennet. With this formation, a new fire station was built by the firemen at Fourth Street and Park Avenue. A rescue truck was added in 1960. In 1955, radio communications were installed in all of the fire units. In the late 1950's Vetter Mortuary had a 24 hour answering service and they would set off the fire siren for the next four years. Elois Ware was then hired by the Fort Lupton Answering Service and took emergency calls dispatching the firemen to the calls until the late 1980's. On March 1, 1988, the fire siren was no longer used to signify an emergency call due to the new technology of voice pagers. The siren during the 1970's and 80's was also used to notify residents of curfew and water shortages.
In 1977, the Fire Protection District purchased the Whitney Building located at 1121 Denver Avenue. This became the new home for the fire department. It was remodeled to house the expanding department.
In 1982, there was an arson fire at the Ben Franklin store in the 300 hundred block of Denver Avenue. The Gambles Store also received minor damage. The case was never prosecuted as the evidence was tainted when someone broke into the Colorado Bureau of Investigations.
In 1985, Larry Richardson was hired as the Fire Marshal.
In 1987, Nona Schaefer was hired as the Administrative Secretary to the Board. In 1998, Brad Brown was hired as the maintenance person.
In the late 1980's, the development of Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) came into the works and the dispatching service was transferred to the Fort Lupton Fire Department.
On June 30, 1992, another large fire and explosion occurred at Super S Market 230 Denver Avenue, the fire burned for 12 hours. The fire, of suspicious origin, was never prosecuted.
In August 1998, our American La France Engine 2 was sold to Bill Salmon of Poudre Fire for donation to the Cozumel Mexico Fire Department.
In 1999, the new Fort Lupton Fire Protection District Patch, that was designed by Fire fighter Ben Ibarra, was accepted by the membership.
On May 20, 2001, the Department and the Community mourns the loss of 24 year old Captain Denny Mintle Jr. He was a three year veteran of the department and passed away suddenly from an apparent medical condition. In 2004, the Statue of Denny was placed at the front entry of Station #1. The statue was a donation by his mother Dort Mintle.
In 2002, ADCOM took over dispatch as the City of Fort Lupton could no longer fund the required staffing and costs of equipment for the dispatch center.
On September 11, 2002, the Fire Department honored those lives lost during the 9/11/01 tragedy. The 1907 fire bell above the station rang for the first time in many memories.
On October 23, 2003, the Fire District broke ground for Station 2 and Training Center located at 2999 9th Street. This project included a five bay station, six dorm style sleeping quarters, weight room, training center with a lecture hall, and five story burn tower. This 7 million dollar bond was well received by the community as evidenced by a vote of the community. The open house was completed on September 18, 2004. Approximately four hundred community members came to the program and dedication ceremony. On December 28, 2004, the department officially began running calls from this location.
In 2004, as part of the bond, a 100 foot Peirce Platform truck was also purchased to be placed at Station 2. This city was now in the time of growth and the Fire District wants to prepare for the future.
On December 1, 2004, the Districts first paid Fire Chief, Phil Tiffany, started duty. This day also indentified as the first day of dispatching through Weld County Regional Communications Center on the new 800 MHz radio system. The Santiago's Mexican Restaurant caught fire and the inside was totally destroyed.
On July 21, 2005, the District Board approved the hiring of the District's first two career Firefighters and Training Captain.
On September 24, 2005, Joe Hogelin retires after 28 years of service.
On November 1, 2005, Captain Taw Tamlin and Firefighters Christopher Cross and Adam Sarazen begin employment as the Districts first career firefighters.
On February 20, 2006, Ben Ibarra was hired to complete a day crew of three firefighters.
On March 7, 2006, eight reserves were sworn in to begin help with the Reserve Shift Program.
In September 2006, the Fire District purchased a flashover simulator from Loveland Fire to assist in training firefighter for the signs and conditions of flashover.
On March 31, 2007, the District loses 385 acres of the District along
WCR 19 between WCR 14 and WCR 16 to Frederick Firestone as it was
annexed into the city limits of
On January 7, 2008, four additional firefighters,
