Community fired up for FFPD 50th anniversary 

By Jon Huang

On May 10, the Falcon Fire Protection District hosted its 50^th anniversary celebration at 7030 Old Meridian Road. It was a time to reflect on five decades of community contributions and sacrifice. 

“You don’t know what you have or where you’re going, unless you know where you came from,” said Falcon Fire Chief Trent Harwig, as he addressed a gathering of civic leaders, firefighters, families and friends. 

In 1975, a group of men and women felt that the department in Colorado Springs was too far away so they came together to form the volunteer-run Falcon Fire Department. Of the 23 original volunteer firefighters, 11 are still living and nine were in attendance. 

The original fire station was an old mule barn on Cottontail Road and Highway 24 in the Meadow Lake Estates area. Phyllis Anderson, one of the founding firefighters, remembered three calls on the first day, including a fire along the railroad tracks. She spoke about how the group worked with limited and borrowed equipment, which included two trucks. One of those trucks was a five-speed 1949 International Truck that shut down whenever a gear was missed, said Earl Fox, a founding member and one of the department’s first emergency medication technicians. 

“In the beginning, in order to keep our trucks running, we had to ask members of the community to donate for gasoline and money,” Fox said. “Most were willing to help, but a few didn’t think they needed a fire department.” For Fox, in his more than 30 years of service, there was never a dull moment and the job regularly challenged him in new ways — from helping his own brother in a motorcycle accident to putting out grass and hay fires to delivering a baby girl. 

There was also the time he dislocated his knee. His wife initially called for one person to come and assist him into the car, but Fox wanted an ambulance. Much to his embarrassment, 21 firefighters showed up on the scene. 

Then, there was the man with a broken foot who eyed Fox’s cutters as he approached him to help. “Pull the boot off,” the man demanded. “These are 500-dollar boots.”

“When we were out on grass fires, which usually took a long time to contain, the cow patties were hard to get out,” said Shirley Fox, who served alongside her husband, Earl. 

Back then, the fire trucks were yellow before they were red.

Those early years were imprinted on current Deputy Chief Jeff Petersma and Fire Inspector Lt. Curtis Kauffman, whose fathers were among the founding members. 

Kauffman frequently went with his late father, LaVern, to the fire station and spoke of the camaraderie he witnessed — firefighters playfully wrestling on the ground and his dad accepting a challenge to turn on the water nozzle while it was inside his bunker pants. 

“I wish my dad was here,” Kauffman said. “I lost him three years ago next month, but I can guarantee you he’s watching over us and he is absolutely proud of what this department has become.” 

For Petersma, he was 9 months old when his late father, Chuck, served with the department. He encouraged those in attendance to take the opportunity to look at the old pictures and memorabilia on display to get a sense of how things have changed over the years. 

“We always grow right on the shoulders of those that come before us, regardless of what we do,” he said. 

Falcon Fire Department was more than just the firefighters. The volunteer-run auxiliary department regularly held fundraisers for the department, solicited donations, cooked meals and brought food and water out to the scene during the calls. Fundraising events included horse shows, bingo nights, country dance lessons and farm sales. The Auxiliary made sandwiches and cookies for the firefighters, along with barbecue beef, sloppy joes, hot dogs and homemade pies to sell at the fundraisers. 

They even published and sold a cookbook in 1984 that featured classic recipes such as “Marry Me Pork Stew,” which included the following description: “Serve this to your sweetie on leap year day, then pop the question. If he declines, he’s obliged to buy you a new frock.” 

Sue Bolte was the auxiliary’s treasurer during those early years. 

“If they had known what my math abilities were, they wouldn’t have hired me,” she said. “It wasn’t a difficult job because we didn’t have no money.” 

At the event, founding members and family representatives of the deceased received certificates for their service. The department commemorated Martin “Bud” Kucera, firefighter and chief in the 1980s; he also provided vehicle maintenance. The department dedicated the opening of the new maintenance building to Kucera and Rick Wildman, another officer who served in the department’s early years. 

Harwig thanked those in attendance for their years of service, highlighting how much they did with so little and how their sacrifices shaped the supportive culture of the department. 

“You probably don’t hear it enough because it’s been a while, but thank you for everything you’ve always done,” he said. “I’m glad that I’ve met every one of you. I wasn’t here with you then, but I’ve known you. I know all of you. It’s just been neat to get to know you better. Thanks for coming out today.”

For Bryce Boyer, watching his dad, Keith, the first chief, serve his community inspired him to go into the field. He remembered one July 4 accompanying his father as he put out a barn fire off Marksheffel Road and sticking around with the crew to watch the fireworks. 

Today, Boyer serves as a captain of the Pueblo Fire Department and has been with the department for 30 years. 

For the remainder of the gathering, attendees shared stories from the past, including how Anderson, as one of the first female firefighters, had her hands full babysitting the men. 

Another recalled a grassfire where firefighters, upon arriving on scene, were greeted with gunfire. 

“Never say, nobody will ever do that,” Petersma said, as the group laughed.  

In 1978, the department received its 100^th call. 

In 1979, the first official fire station was built for $29,000, relying on cash labor and material donations from community members. Volunteers borrowed neighbors’ trucks to tear down and load cement blocks from two old buildings in town in order to use them for the new station. Concrete trusses were donated by a local company. The original station was later incorporated into the current administration building.  

In 1981, Falcon Fire Protection District began receiving public tax funding. Today, the department has 66 full-time paid firefighters, including 16 paramedics and seven part-time firefighters. Three manned stations run 24/7 and each has a four-person engine company and ambulance. The district has 25 apparatus with four others on the way. The district receives up to 4,300 calls, over 70% are medical related; transports include about 1,700 patients each year. The district runs on a yearly budget of more than $16 million.

Many things have changed for FFPD over the years, from moving from volunteer to paid staff to implementing ambulance service to more specialized training for medical care. The anniversary event showed how the FFPD adapted to the evolving needs of the community. In another 50 years, people will again be saying, “Remember when?”