How oil and gas has professionalized Weld County’s rural fire departments
The department's volunteer firefighters wore hand-me-down turnout coats and pants, their boots were second-hand and their air tanks were used. The volunteer roster was capped at 15.
Now in his 23rd year with the district, including his seventh year as chief, Dilka said the
Two years ago, the district built a second station at Colo. 392 and
"Oil and gas paid for all of it," Dilka said, adding his district is debt-free despite a string of significant capital investments in the department. "Yes, oil and gas can be a pain -- they chew up the roads and we have to respond to a few more calls -- but they paid for all of our equipment."
There are 24 fire protection districts responding to calls in at least a portion of
How much obviously depends on the amount of activity taking place in any given district.
*
RuralFireDepartments.002
*
RuralFireDepartments.003
*
RuralFireDepartments.004
*
RuralFireDepartments.005
*
RuralFireDepartments.006
*
RuralFireDepartments.001
*
RuralFireDepartments.007
*
RuralFireDepartments.008
*
RuralFireDepartments.009
*
RuralFireDepartments.010
*
RuralFireDepartments.011
*
RuralFireDepartments.012
*
RuralFireDepartments.013
*
RuralFireDepartments.014
*
RuralFireDepartments.015
*
RuralFireDepartments.016
*
RuralFireDepartments.017
*
RuralFireDepartments.018
*
RuralFireDepartments.019
*
RuralFireDepartments.020
*
RuralFireDepartments.021
*
RuralFireDepartments.022
*
Percentage of property tax revenue generated by the oil and gas industry by fire district in
RuralFireDepartments.023
Show CaptionsHide Captions
But
"I can tell you there wouldn't be anyone here to answer this phone," Kane said when called back in April to comment about the importance of oil and gas industry to his rural fire department. "If the industry left, it would be just as bad as if water skipped town."
"In the past, you'd be waiting 20 minutes just to get the engine out the door, plus another 20 minutes of average drive time to a scene," Kane said. "Now, we're out the door in two minutes."
Those capital and staffing upgrades have paid off. During a recent
Jumping two spots might not sound very significant. Even Kane admitted he was a little disappointed in the results until the auditor explained just how impressed he was with the changes he saw at
"He said, 'You guys used to be a shed and a few dudes and now you're trending in the direction of becoming a legitimate fire department,'" Kane said.
That lower ISO rating isn't just good for
The district is in the design phase for a second firehouse, which will be constructed in Barnesville. Once complete in about two years, the station will house a reserve engine and additional firefighters. Kane is hopeful those improvements will catapult the district up two more spots to an ISO rating of 6.
Like
"We're creating an oasis, not an empire," Kane said. "We're trying to spend our money wisely knowing this is a cyclical industry. If we didn't get a penny from oil and gas beginning tomorrow, we have enough money in reserves to maintain the same level of service for the next decade."
But for both
Firefighters are required to carry specialized certifications in order to respond to an oil and gas site in the event of an emergency, and operators regularly conduct onsite and "classroom" training with local firefighters.
During a follow-up interview and tour of the
"
Not only is
And it's those partnerships that motivated fire chiefs in
Last year, the
"We respond to more traffic accidents than we used to because of the increased truck traffic associated with oil and gas, but in terms of fires, grass fires at Pawnee are still our biggest customer," Dilka said. "Calls to oil and gas sites are barely a drop in the bucket."
"I will tell you about 25% of our calls are for fires and the vast majority of those are agriculture fires, such as hay fires and burning ditches," Kane said. "I'm comfortable saying the total number of calls we receive versus calls to oil and gas sites is several hundred to one."
--
___
(c)2019 the Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.)
Visit the Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.) at www.greeleytribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
San Diego to host national CERT conference as Gov. Newsom beefs up citizen response teams for wildfire, other disasters
Political Insider: Florida a GOP outlier on abortion measures
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News