On Nov. 27, 2000 a fire of unknown origin totally destroyed a house under construction in the Legend Ridge development.  The builder of the partially completed structure, Cathrine Klass, said that damages amounted to $500,000.  The evening before a small shed fire on 245 Third Avenue and Franklin Street threatened the building housing Le Chantecler restaurant.

The shed fire was spotted by area resident Richard Harrison.  He worked to extinguish it, with the help of Deputy Sheriff Amy Frank.  The Legend Ridge fire was fought by the Mountain View, City of Boulder and Boulder Rural fire departments.  The three fire departments were fully engaged with the fire from 2:50 a.m. until 8 a.m.  “With any significant structural fire we automatically call on mutual aid in the County,” Fire Chief John Devlin of the Mountain View Fire Protection District (MVFPD) explained.  When asked about local participating firefighters, Devlin said, “There were two men from Niwot at the Legend Ridge fire, Ryan Anderson and Ben Ojinaga.”

The Niwot fire station is a part of the MVFPD.  It has a long and significant history of fire fighting in Niwot. The station is located in a modern building on Niwot Road, which contains several modern pieces of fire fighting equipment.  What it lacks are volunteer firefighters. 

There are three classifications of fire department members: volunteers, reserves and salaried employees.  Volun-teers must live and work within a five-mile radius of the firehouse.  Reserve members can reside outside the five-mile radius, but must devote 24 hours a month to the department and stay at a station.  Ryan Anderson, a reserve member, resides in the Niwot firehouse in exchange for committing to 30 hours per week responding to calls. 

“Volunteers are a real issue.” according to Devlin.  Mike Holubec, treasurer of the MVFPD board, and a volunteer member of the department for many years, said that there are presently “only four volunteers in Niwot during the day.” 

Devlin said there are now 132 men and women active in the district; thirty-eight are full time career employees and 90 are volunteers or reserves.  “There were seven and a half administrative positions in the department when I started here five years ago (1997),” Devlin commented. “I reassigned several to shift work.  In 2001 there are only eight full time office positions. 

Change Anticipated In April

There are changes planned for MVFPD and the Niwot station in particular.  Cliff Tharp, a Pebble Road resident and long time member of the department, has been advocating the use of Compressed Air Foam (CAF) for several years.  “Water washes everything away,” according to Tharp. “It has been proven that CAF makes arson investigation a lot easier.”  Until recently the CAF required a large investment in a big truck and special equipment.

Holubec is also a “firm believer in foam.  The Phoenix (AZ.) Fire Department uses two-man stations with foam, down from five-man stations.  And they put the fire out quicker, and use less water.”  Devlin agrees that “CAF is excellent in urban areas.  We have done a cost analysis. They (CAF trucks and equipment) are expensive. ”  There have been recent changes in the CAF technology and Devlin plans to improve the fire fighting situation in Niwot with the new technology.

Ryan Anderson, one of the two local fire fighters at the Legend Ridge fire, said that he “was pleased to see that Boulder Rural had available and used CAF on the fire.”

MVFPD has just received bids on a new ambulance/fire fighting truck. Devlin feels the new unit will respond well to the community’s needs.  “We get about 2300 calls a year, about seven calls every day.  Seventy percent are medically related.”  The new unit should reduce the response time from the ten-minute average in rural areas to four to six minutes-average in urban areas.

The new equipment will be equipped with a foam storage unit for fire fighting.  “The ambulance will require six additional full time career people in order staff it 24 hours a day.  Each two-man crew will consist of a Paramedic/Certified Firefighter and an EMT/Certified Fire Fighter. 

“We anticipate the cost will be about $225,000 for the first year, including labor and equipment,” according to Devlin.  Bids were due on Jan. 15, 2001.  Devlin anticipates that the unit will be up and running in April.  “The continued growth in our area has also caused us to hire a new deputy chief,” Devlin said.  “His duties will be administrative in nature.” 

The additional expense has been calculated to be within the existing mil rate.  The growth of new homes and business in the area has increased the total assessed valuation and so more tax dollars are available without increasing the mil rate.  Starr Aldrich, president of the MVFPD board, affirms that the “2001 budget is established and there is no change in the mil rate.”

The new unit will be based at the Niwot station and will replace the PrideMark Ambulance presently serving this area.  The MVFPD is responsible, under state law, to provide ambulance 
service. PrideMark has agreed to serve as a backup for the district’s ambulance.

"Pridemark does not now charge us a fee for the service,” Devlin explained. “They arecompensated by private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. The source depends on the user’s coverage.  Instead of Pridemark, we will earn that revenue.  I estimate it to be about $100,000 per year.  Because of the lack of volunteers in Niwot we will have to provide some full time fire fighting coverage.  Combining that with the ambulance service will provide some income to compensate for the increased cost.”

According to Aldrich, the district is negotiating a contract with an outside firm to provide for billing of ambulance services.  The cost of the billing service should be covered by insurance reimbursement.

The Old Fire House

 The small two-bay metal building on Franklin Street, just south of the Grange, served as the Niwot Firehouse before the new station was built on Niwot Road.  In recent years the structure has been used to rebuild and house Niwot’s first engine, Old Number 10.  Devlin said, “The building is occasionally also used to store a tanker or a brush truck during the winter season.”  The building is owned by the Left Hand Grange #9 and leased long term to the MVFPD.

 Cliff Tharp reported that he had not personally checked the old firehouse for about 12 days after Thanksgiving, and when he did (Dec. 8) he discovered that the heat was not working and that a pipe had frozen and burst.  “No one knows how long the water was running,” he said.  Tharp is concerned that the building is not maintained and “does not look nice in downtown Niwot.”

Holubec,  who is also an officer of the Grange said,  “There is some talk about a museum, historic displays.  We have lots of historic items, some from the blacksmith shop. It’s in the talking stage now.” 

Devlin said that he was certainly willing to discuss the status of the firehouse.  “They might want to use Old Number 10 as part of the exhibit,” he said, “as long as we can still use it for our educational purposes.” 

The new Ambulance/Fire fighting truck recently purchased by the Mountain View Fire Protection District.  The cost of the new unit was $149,500, which was less than the estimated cost.