In 2021, North Metro Fire responded to over 13,500 emergency calls, the highest call volume in the history of the fire district. The District’s call volume rate continues to grow on average 3-5% each year and is expected to stay on that trend for the near future as more growth comes to the north and west sides of the fire district.
Medical calls continue to represent the bulk of North Metro Fire’s calls for service. In 2021, structure fire calls were down compared to previous years, but they remain the District’s most dangerous and staffing-intensive incidents and present the greatest potential economic and life safety impact of all incidents.
Emergency Personnel Added to Address Growth
To support the growing call volume, North Metro Fire added essential emergency personnel in 2021, including a second battalion chief and a safety and medical officer for each shift. The additional emergency personnel contribute to lower response times, improved management and safety on emergency scenes, additional support for critical medical calls, better work efficiency and, ultimately, improved service for residents.
The District also applied for and received a FEMA Staffing for Adequate Emergency Response (SAFER) grant in 2021, which will provide North Metro Fire funding to hire nine additional firefighters in 2022.
Wildland Team
North Metro Fire’s Wildland Team had another busy year, responding to incidents at home and serving as a federal resource for the growing number of wildland fires across the U.S. North Metro’s Wildland Team members deployed to a number of fires throughout 2021, including: Bennet Fire (South Dakota), Crater Ridge Fire (Wyoming), Greenwood Fire (Minnesota), Iron Shoe Fire (Wyoming), Muddy Slide Fire (Colorado) and the Schroeder Fire (South Dakota). Wildland personnel also supported operations at the U.S. Forest Service Tanker Base at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.
Expenses incurred from deployments outside of the District are reimbursed by the state or federal government, and North Metro Fire is proud to be part of the national network of fire departments providing equipment and personnel to reduce the damage wrought by increasingly destructive wildfires. The experience gained at these wildland deployments is invaluable in improving North Metro Fire’s response to grass and brush fires within the District.
Technical Rescue Team
North Metro Fire’s Technical Rescue Team continues to increase its expertise in one of the most demanding and challenging of response categories. Building collapses, trench rescues, confined space operations, ice and water rescue and specialized rope rescues require intensive training and preparation. Out of North Metro Fire’s Technical Rescue Team, several members also serve as specialists for Colorado Task Force 1 (CO-TF1), a regional team that’s part of the national urban search and rescue program. In September 2021, one of North Metro Fire’s lieutenants served as a logistics specialist with CO-TF1 to assist communities impacted by Hurricane Ida in Louisiana.
Hazardous Materials Team
North Metro Fire’s Hazardous Materials (HazMat) Team also had a busy 2021, responding to several fuel and chemical spills, unknown substance investigations and gas leaks. The District's investment in sophisticated air monitoring equipment and training proved invaluable. On numerous occasions, North Metro firefighters assisted with gas detection efforts in neighborhoods surrounding oil and gas pad sites and abandoned wells, evaluating potential threats and addressing community concerns.
North Metro has earmarked capital funds to allow the District to continually upgrade its capabilities for addressing hazardous materials incidents in neighborhoods, business developments and on roadways.
special teams in action
A Look Back at the Marshall Fire
On December 30, Colorado would experience its costliest fire in the state’s history, when the Marshall Fire swept through Boulder County. At the forefront of firefighting efforts was North Metro Fire. North Metro Fire’s involvement in the Marshall Fire began with a request from neighboring Mountain View Fire to assist with a grass fire near Marshall Road and Cherryvale Road. However, over the course of the day, the fire district would eventually send all its emergency units to attack the fire, save homes, evacuate patients from hospitals, refuel emergency response vehicles in the field, and push out essential safety information to the public.
In its initial response, North Metro Fire sent two fire engines and a battalion chief to respond to the request from Mountain View Fire. Once on scene, North Metro firefighters joined others already involved in efforts to suppress a large, fast moving grass fire driven by ferocious winds. The speed at which the fire was progressing forced units involved in the firefight to abandon their positions and take up other positions numerous times.
As firefighting efforts continued, North Metro Fire received a call from Avista Hospital that the hospital was in danger of being overrun by the fire and that an evacuation was urgently needed. North Metro Fire then committed the majority of its emergency vehicles and personnel resources to that effort.
At Avista Hospital, North Metro Fire’s EMS team directed the evacuation of the hospital, beginning with babies from the neonatal intensive care unit. As the evacuation was nearing completion, the fire burned past Avista and entered the neighborhood directly north of the hospital. North Metro Fire units involved in the evacuation effort repositioned to that area and began what would become an intensive firefight that would last until early the next morning. Throughout the duration of the event, personnel were relieved from firefighting efforts, and fresh firefighters were rotated in to replace them.
In total, North Metro Fire committed six fire engines, one ladder truck, five ambulances, two specialized wildfire trucks and five battalion chiefs to the fire, as well as personnel from administration, fire prevention and fleet services. Close to 100 individuals from the department directly participated in efforts to control the fire. Even with so many units deployed to the Marshall Fire, North Metro Fire was still able to operate and respond to emergencies in in the fire district by calling in off-duty firefighters to staff its fire stations and by utilizing aid from neighboring departments.
Continuing to Raise the Bar in EMS
COVID-19 continued to play a dominant role in 2021 for the fire district, creating challenges and opportunities for North Metro Fire to deliver high quality care to residents while ensuring healthy staffing levels operationally.
North Metro Fire prides itself on being a leader in EMS delivery, which stems from extensive year-round training in EMS, a robust quality improvement program and a culture that emphasizes compassion, innovation, and hard work.
The District’s high standards of care paid off, as North Metro Fire was recognized in October at the state’s EMS Conference with the Children’s Hospital Colorado Award for Commitment to Pediatric Emergency Care. The award recognizes an EMS agency, medical facility, or individual for excellence in out-of-hospital care and transport of pediatric patients.
Investing in the growth and development of its employees is an important focus for North Metro Fire’s leaders. In 2021, the District sent three North Metro firefighter/EMTs to paramedic school to broaden their education and skills in emergency medical treatment. The three firefighters became certified paramedics in 2021 and are now delivering advance lifesaving care within the District. Additionally, North Metro Fire launched a two-week EMS Academy for its newest firefighters who graduated from the North Area Fire Academy. Over the course of the EMS Academy, firefighters received in-depth, hands-on training on various EMS procedures and North Metro’s approach toward pre-hospital care, so they would be more prepared in the field serving our community.
In late 2021, the District partnered with new physician medical directors, Dr. Jason Roosa and Dr. Colleen Foster. They serve to supervise all emergency medical care provided by our paramedics and EMTs as well as to provide education, mentorship, and medical protocols aimed at ensuring our patients receive excellent evidence-based prehospital care.
Serving Above and Beyond During the Pandemic
As the Denver Metro region fared well against COVID-19 from a staffing standpoint, other areas across the country were in crisis, unable to address the medical needs of their community due to the high demand for care created by the pandemic. In order to assist hospitals, federal resources were called up and deployed to areas in need.
North Metro Firefighter/Paramedic Doug Finley answered one of those calls and was deployed with a Disaster Medical Assistance Team to Farmington, New Mexico, to care for patients in the town’s hospital for two weeks. The San Juan Regional Medical Center serves the entire Four Corners area of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah, and experienced significant staffing shortages during the peak of COVID.
Finley primarily worked in the emergency department, assessing and diagnosing patients and providing initial treatment before the hospital team took over care. Many of the patients he saw were Native American and taught Finley about their culture and some of the challenges with getting essential medical treatment. While Finley has spent most of his career treating patients from the back of an ambulance and transferring their care to the hospital’s medical team, the deployment in New Mexico provided him with insight into the care patients receive once they enter the hospital and the planning involved in each step of their care. That’s part of the knowledge he brought home with him to better serve North Metro Fire’s patients when he transfers their care to hospital providers.
He also witnessed the fragility of patients with COVID-19 in respiratory distress and was able to apply skills he learned as a North Metro firefighter/paramedic to support patients in the hospital. In 2017, North Metro Fire was the first fire department in the state to add portable ventilators to its ambulances and trained personnel on how to use them to provide a more stable and comfortable transport environment for patients with respiratory issues. When Finley got to New Mexico, the hospital was using portable transport ventilators on patients due to a shortage of hospital ventilators. Finley’s field experience back home was essential as he stepped in to support critical patients.
Finley has since returned to North Metro Fire and continues to serve patients as a paramedic, but he won’t forget the lessons he learned during his deployment, and he stands ready to answer the call the next time there’s a disaster or medical crisis.
Investing in Capital Needs
When North Metro Fire sought a tax increase in 2014, one of its goals was to provide funding for capital projects and equipment needs without having to take on additional debt. The District has successfully fulfilled that goal and made capital investments in 2021 using funds from the fire district’s budget.
Firefighters Move Back into Remodeled Northglenn Fire Station
In 2021, North Metro Fire was happy to complete the remodel of Station 62 on Huron Street in Northglenn. The entire interior of the building underwent a redesign, increasing the living space, adding workflow efficiencies and incorporating safety features for firefighters. The first floor now incorporates an open concept living area and centralizes workspaces on the same level, including two offices, a private meeting space, training room, fitness room and kitchen. The second story is now dedicated to sleeping quarters, allowing for nine bedrooms with improved lighting and storage spaces. The District also added a decontamination room and specialized equipment to provide a contained space for firefighters to clean their gear of toxic substances following fires and hazardous materials incidents. The remodeled station also has improved air flow and air quality for the safety of the firefighters. Following the resurfacing of the exterior parking lot, the fire district plans to host an open house for the public in late spring 2022.
Building for the Future
As one chapter closed on construction in 2021, another one began in late November with the demolition of Station 61 on Midway Boulevard in Broomfield. Construction is underway now on the new Station 61, which will more than double in size compared to the previous structure, providing approximately 12,000 square feet of space for living quarters and four garage bays to house emergency vehicles.
The additional square footage will allow North Metro Fire to add emergency response resources to Broomfield to meet the community’s needs into the future. Once completed, a battalion chief overseeing emergency operations in Broomfield will be housed at Station 61, in addition to Engine 61, Medic 61 and five firefighters. The new facility also will incorporate firefighter safety features to meet modern-day standards and measures to reduce external noise for the surrounding neighborhood.
The fire district hopes to reopen the new Station 61 in late 2022. While under construction, the engine crew from Station 61 is operating out of a temporary station near North Metro Fire’s Headquarters, while the ambulance crew is housed at Station 65 near the airport.
North Metro Fire Updates Emergency Vehicles and Firefighter Equipment in 2021
North Metro Fire dedicated nearly $1.9 million to purchase two new fire engines and two new ambulances in 2021. Emergency response apparatus purchases represent a large part of North Metro’s Capital Improvements Fund and are 100% funded through the District’s general revenues.
North Metro Fire also made a nearly $1-million investment in new self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), arguably the most important piece of safety equipment firefighters use. This purchase allowed the fire district to replace aging, end-of-life SCBA with the latest generation of air packs, providing increased functionality and increased safety for firefighters when working fires.
Fire Prevention: Adapting to a Changing World
North Metro Fire’s Fire Prevention Division experienced another busy year of plan reviews, permits and inspections, with 2021 replacing 2020 as the third busiest year in the last two decades. With an increase in fees in 2020 supported by industry customers, Fire Prevention was able to utilize additional staffing and take advantage of improved processes to further decrease its average plan review turnaround time. This served as a benefit to the development community and reduced project timelines.
Residential Construction Booming in the District
The new construction industry continued its steady progress forward in 2021. Though district-wide, there was a slight shift away from new office developments towards housing and multi-family residential construction. This trend mirrored what was experienced nationally during 2021. In just Broomfield alone, there was a 175% increase in building permits for new residential housing projects. Conversely, there was a 75% decrease in commercial business construction and alterations warranting building permits. North Metro Fire expects a substantial population increase within the District over the coming few years resulting from the higher-density residential developments, both on the drawing board and presently under construction.
North Metro Fire Part of $1.25 Million Grant to Improve Emergency Access in North Area
In July 2021, North Metro Fire along with Thornton Fire Department, Westminster Fire Department, Federal Heights Fire Department, Adams County Fire Rescue, South Adams County Fire, and Brighton Fire Department launched a new Electronic Rapid Access System to improve access to businesses during emergencies, decrease potential repair and replacement costs resulting from a forced entry, and increase safety to firefighters.
The Electronic Rapid Access Program is a system that allows fire departments access to businesses when emergencies occur. With the new system installed on commercial buildings, the North Area Fire Departments can utilize a digital code instead of a key during emergencies to access a small metal box, commonly known as a Knox Box, to gain building entry. The North Area Fire Departments responded to over 38,600 calls for service during evening and weekend hours in 2020, a time when most businesses are closed and secured. Gaining access into those buildings after hours brings additional issues that don't occur during business hours. Key benefits include:
- Provides firefighters with secure and quick access to businesses during emergencies, reducing property damage to businesses and injuries for firefighters
- Quicker access positively impacts critical medical care and evacuation efforts for patients and occupants in secured buildings
- During fire emergencies, buildings and contents have increased protection from potential water damage caused by a delayed sprinkler shut-off
Thanks to a large regional grant, the Electronic Rapid Access Program was implemented at no cost or disruption to the 6,400 business occupants who received this new access system. The North Area Fire Departments rely on an Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) system to dispatch the closest units to emergencies, including fire engines and ambulances from neighboring departments. With all seven fire departments implementing the electronic access system, it ensures that whichever fire department arrives on scene first during an emergency will have access to the commercial building, even it if is not within their primary response area.
TRAINING: FOCUSING ON REGIONAL RESPONSE AND HIGH-RISK INCIDENTS
North Metro Fire’s Training Center served as a vital resource for area first responder agencies in 2021. Over the course of the year, the Training Division coordinated several large-scale trainings involving multiple agencies, including trainings on mass casualty incidents, a senior living apartment building fire, plane incidents at the airport, ice rescue and numerous fire and rescue scenarios.
Additionally, the Training Center hosted multiple outside agencies and renowned experts in the field over the course of the year. These trainings and classes not only served to enhance inter-agency efficiency and consistency during incidents, but they also provided opportunities for North Metro firefighters to continue developing their skills in areas of leadership, scene control and specialized tactics to use during incidents.
training in action
North Area Fire Academy Graduates 38 New Firefighters
North Metro Fire was one of six fire departments that participated in the North Area Fire Academy in the fall of 2021. The academy began in August and finished in November, with 38 new firefighters graduating to join their departments serving their communities. North Metro Fire welcomed 11 new firefighters from the academy and put them through a two-week EMS Academy following graduation before they embarked in their new roles serving the fire district.
Check out a video overview of the 2021 North Area Fire Academy below.
community outreach: educating the Community and reducing risk
As the pandemic continued for a second year, North Metro’s team of fire and life safety educators continued pushing forward and finding ways to reduce risk in the community, even in times when in-person contact was limited. Utilizing a virtual setting, they taught numerous interactive and informative classes to elementary and middle school students, emphasizing fire safety and injury prevention.
During periods when COVID cases were declining, North Metro Fire took advantage of opportunities to educate the community at events, such as Broomfield Days, the Northglenn Recreation Center Grand Opening and National Night Out. Additionally, they coordinated various fire drills and evacuation planning sessions with schools and senior living residences throughout the year. North Metro Fire also collaborated with the City of Northglenn and Malley Elementary to host a Bicycle Safety Day at the school, where students received free bicycle helmets, learned about bicycle and pedestrian safety, and tested their skills out on the bike rodeo obstacle course.
One of North Metro Fire’s top priorities for creating a stronger and more resilient community is teaching residents to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use an automated external defibrillator (AED). The fire district focuses on educating residents on this life-saving skill because bystander CPR can double or even triple a person’s chance of surviving a cardiac event outside of the hospital. During the course of the year, North Metro Fire taught hands-only CPR to hundreds of citizens, utilizing business education opportunities, school settings and community events to provide the hands-on training. The District will begin hosting in-person CPR training again this year and hopes to continue to increase the number of trained residents in the community.
Community outreach in action
North Metro Fire, Broomfield Police and City Gather to Remember 9/11
Every year, North Metro Fire, Broomfield Police and the City and County of Broomfield host a ceremony at the Broomfield Amphitheater to honor the lives impacted by the 9/11 attacks. Last year marked 20 years since the attacks occurred, and hundreds gathered to remember the lives lost and impacted that day. Following remarks at the Amphitheater, the crowd processed over to the 9/11 Memorial for a flag presentation and ringing of the bell to symbolize each location attacked on September 11, 2001. Community members were also invited to leave notes and mementos on a special tribute wall, which later were digitized to become part of a living memorial online.
Leading up to the 9/11 Memorial Ceremony, city partners also hosted a public screening of the documentary "Finding Daylight," which follows two families who lost loved ones on 9/11, including the family of Colorado-native Chris Faughnan. The screening was held on Wednesday, September 8. Following the screening, the film's director, Bettina Moss, Colorado composer Chris Pilsner and Faughnan family members took part in a panel discussion about the film's creation and how they've journeyed through the healing process.