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If you lived in Poudre Canyon in the 40’s or early 50’s you might see red wooden boxes placed along the
highway. These boxes contained picks and shovels to fight fire. This was provided by the U.S. Forest
Service.
In the late 50’s a group of residents saw the need for a fire department. A vote of the residents of the
area was required to form a volunteer fire department funded by property taxes. So, in May of 1959 an
election was held and the Poudre Canyon Fire Protection District was established.
This vote made it possible to fund the district through a tax for our special district. You will see it as one
of the line items on your property tax notice from the Larimer County Treasurers Office.
There are approximately 671 parcels of land that are taxable in the district. One large problem for the
department is the fact that a majority of the land in the district is owned by various government entities
and therefore tax exempt. Since that time several commercial entities were either torn down,
purchased by the FS or just out of business therefore decreasing revenue. Meaning that operating funds
are extremely limited.
In the beginning three fire stations were established: Station #1 at Poudre Park, 10234 Poudre Canyon
Highway, Station #2 at Poudre City, 33689 Poudre Canyon Highway and Station #3 at 44610 Poudre
Canyon Highway. In 1994 residents of County Road 68C petition to be added to the district. This was
approved and Station #4 at 5680 County Road 68C was added.
In the 80’s a medical service implemented in conjunction with the hospital emergency room but
eventually ceased due to lack of personnel and funding.
In 1992 the State of Colorado saw the need for emergency medical service and began giving grants to
rural fire districts to encourage them to add EMS to their systems. We became a part of this program
and have had ambulances located at the Poudre Park and Poudre City stations since that time.
Helicopter medical emergency evacuation sites were also established.
The Fire Board administers an annual budget that is compromised on the tax revenue generated from
property taxes. This budget covers vehicle insurance, building insurance, workman’s compensation
insurance, repair and maintenance of buildings and vehicles, gas for vehicle, heat and electricity for the
fire stations, training programs for fire fighters and emergency medical personnel and paging system
equipment. The paging system is through Larimer county Sheriff dispatch.
Since the creation of the fire department, the goal has been to improve our responses and to continually
upgrade our equipment. This has been accomplished through donations, grants and fund raising efforts.
The fire district covers approximately 41 mile s of Colorado State Highway 14 from Gateway Park to the
Keil Bridge located just below Poudre Falls, Poudre Hill Road and County Road 68C to the Boy Scout
camp. In addition an estimated 300,000 vehicles travel the canyon annually.
All staffing is completely volunteer.
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