Dear Editor,

The following thoughts are my personal opinions based solely on my experiences and training in the fire/rescue service. They do not reflect any official statement or opinion of the fire department itself.

I am a 23 year member and senior volunteer officer (currently a Captain) of the Nederland Fire Protection District. I am also a property owner within the district for over 25 years. It would be irresponsible of me to not call to task the recent letter to the editor by a sitting board member. Henry Zurbrugg’s letter is not only inappropriate during an internal investigation, it is filled with misinformation and demonstrates to anyone who is armed with actual facts, just how out of touch he is with not only the district’s needs, his responsibilities as a board member and the general state of our membership. He claims to have “talked with firefighters”, none of my active members have confirmed this and several have had zero contact, formal or informal, with him. I’d be surprised if he could even identify several of our members by name, let alone have some understanding of their lives and experience here. A fire board member has two responsibilities: to the fire district and the membership. Zurbrugg and the previous board seem to forget that the chief works for them, not the other way around.

I find his continued lack of due diligence and lack of understanding of the state and department by-laws appalling. I also find it personally offensive that he would state that the officership is inexperienced, unknowledgeable and incapable of fulfilling the mission of our department without the current chief in charge. As a wise fire chief, from well outside the area, told me, “chiefs don’t put out the fires, firefighters do”. Our successes over these last years lays mostly on the dedicated paid staff and volunteer membership’s commitment to response.

The career officers and myself have many, many years of expertise both outside and inside our organization in all disciplines including medical response, structure fire, wildland fire and rescue operations. Speaking for myself, I was a professional backcountry rescue team member since 1985, a professional ski patroller/dispatcher and a USFS seasonal employee. To this day, I continue to function in the national wildfire response system as a paid engine boss and recently as a public information officer working at the command level on large fires. I have thousands of hours of operating experience in various roles in the wildfire and other arenas. Last year, a similar safety and operational issue during a wildland incident on federal land was brought to the chief directly and was presented to the board by him. What was said to the board (available to the public as an audio recording) was not what happened. He downplayed the issues, painted an inaccurate picture of events and accused me and others of  being “drama queens”, “hormonally deficient” and “profiteering”.  (I was not in a paid role on this local fire). I had hoped to avoid a big issue by not reporting to the federal authorities, which was well within my right and responsibility. I tried to deal with the issue internally as is our policy and I now regret not taking that official action. Since the complaint involved the chief directly, I assumed the board would reach out to those involved for further explanation. That was a big assumption as nobody was talked to until we pushed harder. It took several months as the fire occurred in August and I finally met with Zurbrugg in late February down in Boulder for a “casual conversation.”  I had a lot to say and I thought it was an honest and forthright conversation with Zurbrugg about that specific incident and other patterns of behavior that I had become concerned with concerning the chief’s leadership. I saw no action beyond that, Zurbrugg and other board members never spoke to any of those involved in command positions on the fire nor outside agencies who responded. It appears none of my opinions or observations were considered by Zurbrugg or passed onto the board as a whole. This continued pattern of not consulting other points of view and taking the chief’s word solely goes against common practice and ignores the stakeholders our board should be responsible to. This kind of  “rubber stamping” behavior is irresponsible, reckless and could result in another serious incident.

Our new board members, through direct experience, have taken on the task to bring our department to a level that follows common practices and procedures for departments of our size nationwide. We are not interested in making this department into a big city FD as suggested by Zurburgg. We did not ask for unattainable actions or goals but the use of common practices and procedures that most fire departments follow. We are simply wanting proper training, vehicle maintenance, organized workspaces and respect for common operational practices. Our end game is a department that values the team, its district and safety above all else. These things were not being met.

Would you rather have a few trucks in a parade and pretend everything is alright or to attend a firefighter funeral that could have been avoided with proper training and safe practices? This is dangerous business every day and disaster could still strike even when common training, operations and safety practices are followed. Why play fast and loose with our lives?

The “family” of which Zurbrugg speaks is practically non-existent to the membership. He would know that if he bothered to engage with actual responding members once in a while. That conversation around the wildfire was the first time I was asked anything of substance by any of the board members for many years. There are clear laws and regulations surrounding term limits and these have been ignored. The current board is simply bringing to light issues that were swept under the rug for years. Ignorance is not an excuse and as taxpayers, we deserve more than the status quo. As a firefighter and officer, I don’t wish to be killed or have to make that call to a family member that their loved one is either hospitalized or worse, dead. Without serious adjustments to our operations and policies, we are heading for a disaster.

Here’s some good news about Ned Fire…..Our commitment to emergency response is resolute. We continue to train our membership and enjoy the support of many agencies within the county, including our immediate mutual aid partners at Sugarloaf FPD and Timberline FPD. As has been in the past, should the need for resources become greater than our capability, help is always on the way. None of that has ever changed and it could be argued that since this disciplinary investigation, the motivation to do things the right way is greater than it has been in years.

Having to spend all this time on this needed but unpleasant situation takes away from my own ability to respond effectively and creates unnecessary risk that I am not willing to take on as a command officer. We are moving to a better place and will only see benefits arising from this difficult period in the department’s history.

Onward and Upward!

Sincerely yours,

Eric Peter Abramson
District Resident / Volunteer Firefighter