“Historically, the annual report has focused on where we’ve been; it should also include where we are going and give us a sense of direction.” Joel Hager, Battalion Chief, in conversation 12/1/25

Members of the District, the Board of Directors, and the Community,

Greetings.

While the balance of this report is – and should be – a celebration of the men and women of the FLFPD and the myriad ways that their passion manifest throughout the community in 2025, I am going to use my few keystrokes to put a wobbly frame on our future.  Wobbly, because I know our future is not entirely my future.  I want the next individual, given the honor to lead this organization, the latitude to reinforce or reframe, as they believe necessary. 

2025 was a year of profound transition; unanticipated changes rattled both individuals and the organization.  Zora Neale Hurston, in Their Eyes Were Watching God, said, “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”   2025 asked BIG questions.  I’d bet that 2026 will ask even more.

The questions going forward will be different, though.  So many of our successes in the last five years have been technical fixes characterized by additional staff, additional facilities, or additional training.  More CFS scream for more people, longer response times often mean another station, new hazards require new skills.  For the most part, the resources, knowledge, and procedures we had on hand were the path forward.

The next five years will have a decidedly different texture.  Rebuilding internal and external trust, fostering autonomy, and courageously communicating are adaptive challenges.  Defined by its architect, Harvard Professor Ron Heifetz, as challenges “that demand a response outside [our] current toolkit…that require a shift in mindset…[and] new ways of working and collaborating across silos.”  Paraphrasing Einstein – we can’t journey from here by the same means we got here.  We are in a good place; let’s get to a great one.

Our future, unquestionably, will begin with a conversation about what we value.  Are pride, integrity, and compassion the values that should continue as our compass, helping navigate this next chapter?  Or might we consider others – like growth, professionalism, competency, courage, or dedication (just to name a few)?  Heifetz cautions that “a lot of the organization’s DNA can be conserved but some will need to be discarded.  It’s a painful process.”  What things stay, what things go, and most importantly, what things do we need to add?  2026 questions will be answered through dialogue, not monologue.

Once determined, each member must know, understand, and embrace how these values, these seemingly insignificant little words on paper, shape our decision-making and our behavior.  This will require equal parts open mind and open heart – two rare commodities in our world and certainly not found in our firefighting curriculum.  I’m certain, though, they exist within our ranks; I’ve seen them in my first hundred days.  Going forward, then, we will shift from transition to transformation.

 

Ron Bateman, Interim Fire Chief, Ft. Lupton Fire Protection District