History:

The Wheat Ridge Fire Department was founded 79 years ago in 1926 by Mr. George Hively, a local blacksmith. Mr. Hively seeing the need for organized fire protection solicited funding from local merchants and private citizens to purchase a 1926 Dodge fire apparatus with an on-board chemical fire extinguishing system. Once this was accomplished he formed the non-profit, all volunteer organization called the "Wheat Ridge Fire Department". And for Mr. Hively's efforts he was named as the first Fire Chief of this new fire department. In these early years the department was staffed with local businessmen and high school students.

In 1942, the Colorado State Legislature passed a bill allowing for the formation of special districts for the purpose of taxation to support the infrastructure of such organizations. On March 28th, 1942 the Wheat Ridge Fire Protection District was formed to collect funds from property taxes which were used to support the operations of the fire department.

In 1969, the unincorporated Wheat Ridge area was being threatened by the expansions of Edgewater, Denver and other communities. The Wheat Ridge Fire Department seeing the need for the citizens of Wheat Ridge to have the ability to determine their own destiny, contribute the funds needed to hold an election to decide whether or not to incorporate as a city. The election was held and the City of Wheat Ridge was born with firefighters Kent Higgins, Jerry Rose, Marty Weiland and Jack Willis named as incorporators.

In 1971, the Prospect Valley Fire Department (which serviced the area west of Kipling) and the Wheat Ridge Fire Department merged. This merger was needed to help ensure that the ever increasing needs of the community for emergency services were met. The merger helped increase the available volunteer personnel and equipment resources of the organization.

In 1987, the Wheat Ridge Fire Department initiated a program that would require their volunteer firefighters achieve and maintain State Certified Firefighter certifications. These credentials were and are to this day part of a voluntary certification process offered by the Division of Fire Safety to standardize the training requirements for firefighting. The goal of this program is to ensure that all firefighters both volunteer and career have the same minimum standards of firefighting education. In 1989 the first group of Wheat Ridge firefighters successfully completed the testing process and received their State Certified Firefighter credentials. This certification program earned the firefighters of the Wheat Ridge Fire Department a new level of respect in the firefighting community.

In March of 2002, fueled by desire to provide unsurpassed emergency services to the community it serves, the Wheat Ridge Fire Department initiated a program that would manage its volunteer resources. This program requires the firefighters to sign-up for shifts and these shifts would be operated out of the two stations. This was a significant change to the volunteer system of old, but in a very short period of time the merits of this shift program were evident.

Today, the Wheat Ridge Fire Department is still entirely VOLUNTEER and will remain so into the foreseeable future. The citizens of this Fire District realize a mill levy of 4.400 which is the lowest in the area. The only paid employees are those of the Fire District and they consist of the Fire Chief, Fire Marshal, Training Officer, Administrative Assistant and a part time Maintenance Person. The Wheat Ridge Fire Department responds to over 2,500 alarms a year which has increased at a rate of 10% per year over the last decade. The average response time to these alarms for 2004 was 3 minutes 42 seconds. The Fire Department is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year with around 100 volunteer firefighters responding out of two (2) stations, one at 3880 Upham Street and the other at 10901 West 38th Avenue. The stations are equipped with four (4) class "A" pumpers (two (2) of which were purchased in 2004 without having to go to the taxpayers for an increase in taxes), two (2) aerial platforms, two (2) brush/EMS trucks, one (1) command van and five (5) support vehicles.

The future of the Wheat Ridge Fire Department and the Wheat Ridge Fire Protection District look bright. With the continued support of the community, the guidance of the District Board of Directors, the outstanding dedication of the volunteer men and women of the Wheat Ridge Fire Department, the citizens of this District will continue to receive the benefits of an organization dedicated to providing quality fire prevention programs and unsurpassed emergency services.