The Golden Gate Fire Protection District Board discussed the wildfire protection plan during a regular meeting on Thursday, March 28, at 7 p.m. at the Grange, 25231 Golden Gate Road. The Board considered a resolution to update the community wildfire protection plan (CWPP).

According to the resolution, the Board of Directors has determined that an updated CWPP, last revised in 2011, 13 years ago, is urgently needed to provide education and guidance to property owners for fire mitigation and to maintain firewise status for grant proposals. The nonprofit organization Ember Alliance submitted a detailed Statement of Work in August 2023 to accomplish that CWPP update, following all current state and federal guidelines.

The Board of Directors approved $55,000 for updating the CWPP in the 2024 budget, adopted on January 5, but the 60-day timeline for Ember Alliance’s bid expired 60 days after the Statement of Work and their bid has now increased to $66,655.35.

Board member Steven Green wanted to be the first to speak, “so the Board doesn’t railroad this through,” he said. Green suggested the Board should have a small committee to have an additional look at this. The $66,000 should be spent on more important matters, he argued.

The Board made a motion to approve the resolution to accept the bid, which was seconded. The Board then received a motion to table this item to the next meeting, which was approved.

The Board heard the Chief’s report. Kyle Kociemba-Benson reported that the mountain chiefs group continues to work on the final details regarding the Wildland and All Hazards agreements with Jefferson County Emergency Management. The report noted that “We have reviewed the final drafts from Jefferson County, and we expect to have the final copy for Board signature by May.”

GGFPD’s change to fueling with Jefferson County is in full swing. After a few small technical glitches in the startup, the transition to County fuel went very smoothly. The feedback from the firefighters during this change has been positive.

GGFPD was awarded a full request for $20,000 for bunker gear from DFPC’s Firefighter Safety and Disease grant. The award of this grant will allow the District to complete the process of replacing aging front-line bunker gear.

Between this grant award and the direct distribution grant award in the fall of 2023, GGFPD will have replaced all of its aging front line bunker gear. This achievement has important significance to the district. First, all the District’s firefighters will be outfitted in modern PPE that meets or exceeds current standards of protection.

Second, the firefighters will now have access to a second set of “backup” gear that will allow them to run calls or participate in training while their primary gear is being cleaned.

As a final note, all GGFPD bunker gear will now say “GGFPD” across the back, along with the firefighter’s name on a removable name plate.

Station 82 Firefighters, led by Resident FF McDaniel, have been hard at work re-configuring Station 82’s bay to accommodate new built-in training props and a cohesive workshop. This crew has also begun the process of building a gym at Station 82.

Because they have been working very hard on this project, all the GGFPD members are looking forward to providing a quality workout facility for firefighters within the district to better facilitate firefighter fitness.

The district continues its expected seasonal lull, with 17 calls as of the submission of the report; however, there were several very high acuity calls during the last month, mostly concentrated around the snowstorm on March 14 and 15. During this time GGFPD firefighters responded to multiple significant automobile accidents and traumatic injuries.

Of significant note, GGFPD firefighters and Stadium Medical EMS providers were able to deploy GGFPD’s newly implemented lifesaving tool, a SAM pelvic binder, during one of these calls. GGFPD’s EMS stock received this tool only a few months ago.

The volume of snow experienced during this event highlighted several operational inefficiencies within the district, as well as on a regional level.

During this storm, there was once again a mapping re-route issue for I-70 traffic. This re-route led to multiple tractor-trailer incidents on Golden Gate Canyon Road that blocked the canyon. These incidents, coupled with Gilpin County’s Emergency Declaration, led to closing Golden Gate Canyon Road for approximately 18 hours during the storm.

The GGFPD currently has 23 operational members and four support services members on the roster. The Board are incredibly proud to have brought two new lateral firefighters into GGFPD in the last month: Engineer Eric Herber is a Station 83 volunteer who is also a career Firefighter in Vail. Herber has over eight years of volunteer fire service experience and brings a host of training as well as leadership experience to GGFPD.

Lori Brill previously served the GG community for many years before spending five years as a volunteer firefighter for Golden FD. Brill is also a Battalion Chief in DFPC’s training division. With her experience and certification, Brill will be filling the lateral position of Battalion Chief of Training and Safety for GGFPD, which is another first for GGFPD.

On April 13, the district will host a training event for an entire day, looking like it will be quite a day. For Station 81, painting begins next week.

The next regular board meeting will be on April 25, 7 p.m., at the Grange.