Arvada Fire 2023 Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORT

Arvada Fire has earned and retained commitment to keeping our residents (PPC) from the Insurance Services is determined based on how well internationally accredited by the fire agencies in Colorado and one Arvada Fire will pursue re-accreditation.

retained two of the highest recognitions available to fire agencies, reflecting our residents and firefighters safe. Arvada Fire has a Class 1 Public Protection Classification Services Office (ISO). A Class 1 rating is the highest possible fire protection class rating and well a fire response agency can protect the community it serves. Additionally, we are Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). Arvada Fire is one of just eight one of 122 nationally with a Class 1 ISO rating and international accreditation. In 2024, re-accreditation.

Chief’s Letter

Fire Chief Kirk Lock

Kirk Lock was promoted and sworn in as the district’s newest Fire Chief in February, 2024. A highly regarded leader in the fire service, Lock joined Arvada Fire in May of 2020 and has previously served as Deputy Chief and Interim Fire Chief at Arvada Fire. Chief Lock joined Arvada Fire after 30 years with the Memphis Fire Department.

In the year 2023, Arvada Fire responded to 17,605 calls for service. Some of these incidents included patients in cardiac arrest who needed immediate life-saving care, while some involved grabbing a cat in a tree or installing free smoke alarms.

Whatever your reason for calling 911 or requesting assistance from Arvada Fire, it’s our mission to provide you with the highest level of professional services while preserving life, property, and the environment. It’s my pleasure to present to you our 2023 Annual Report, which offers a small glimpse of how our 213 employees uphold our mission while serving more than 130,000 citizens with the utmost dedication and compassion.

Notably, we spent the past year training, sharing resources, and collaborating closely with Fairmount Fire Protection District. Following a comprehensive emergency response analysis, both agencies agree that integrating Fairmount into Arvada Fire will result in improved emergency services to both communities and a myriad of other organizational benefits. Ultimately, the decision to integrate agencies belongs

to the citizens of Fairmount in the form of a ballot measure in November. We look forward to the result of this measure while we continue collaborating with our partners to the west.

By working with the community and stakeholders, we created a five-year roadmap in the form of a 20242028 Strategic Plan to guide our future priorities and objectives. From employee wellness and recruitment, to wildfire mitigation and risk reduction, this plan addresses some of the timeliest issues facing both the fire service and our community.

Of the many highlights you will read in this report, none would be possible without the dedicated efforts of our personnel and the support we enjoy from the community. On behalf of all of us at Arvada Fire, it’s truly our honor to serve you.

Fire Chief Kirk Lock

Kirk Lock

Both the future of this district and the safety of our citizens are in good hands thanks to the level of training, professionalism, and commitment each of our members displays every day.

About Arvada Fire

Arvada Fire maintains nine active fire stations throughout approximately 43 square miles in the City of Arvada, the northern portion of the City of Wheat Ridge, and portions of unincorporated Jefferson County. We have 213 employees who serve approximately 133,000 citizens.

Arvada’s firefighting history dates all the way back to 1907. Formally, Arvada Fire was founded in 1949 as a special district organized under Colorado Revised Statutes Title 32 to provide fire protection to our service area. Once the largest all-volunteer fire department west of the Mississippi River, Arvada Fire became a career department in 1999.

As a special district, we are a separate entity from the City of Arvada. Arvada Fire is governed by a five-member Board of Directors elected by voters.

Our mission is to preserve life, property, and the environment. Our vision is to be an industry leader providing exceptional public services to our community through collaborative partnerships.

Arvada Fire is an ‘all-hazards’ fire department, meaning we train for and respond to a wide variety of incidents and emergencies that impact our community. We’re committed to delivering the highest level of service to our residents, visitors, and businesses.

We provide fire suppression and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) with Advanced Life Support (ALS) transportation. Our special operations teams include technical rescue, hazardous materials, water and ice rescue, and wildfire firefighting.

Arvada Fire offers numerous risk-reduction services, programs, and code enforcement designed to mitigate and prevent incidents in our community. Additionally, we’re aided by many other divisions and sections who support our mission.

Our operations division, which includes frontline personnel that respond to incidents, is divided into battalions A, B, and C. Each battalion is led by two battalion chiefs, who report directly to the deputy chief.

Our firefighters work a 48-96 work schedule, meaning they work two consecutive 24-hour shifts before four days off. In addition to the deputy and battalion chiefs, operations personnel include 9 captains, 18 lieutenants, 24 engineers, 57 firefighter paramedics, and 40 firefighter EMTs.

Each of our nine fire apparatus are typically staffed with a minimum of four personnel, and each of our six ambulances are staffed with at least two personnel.

Board of Directors

President

Jim Whitfield

V. President

Dr. Leah Martin

Secretary

Ted Terranova

Treasurer

Joel Kingham

Director

Bob Loveridge

13,000+

People made safer

Our Community Risk Reduction efforts reached more than 13,000 citizens through its programs and services in 2023. These programs include home safety visits, child passenger safety seat inspections, Dave’s Locker and more.

In Service Medic 56

Our newest ambulance, Medic 56, was placed into service at Station 6 in April. Medic 56 is our second-busiest ambulance in the district, running 2,559 calls in 2023.

In Service Truck 54

Members of the community joined our personnel at Station 4 in October to place Truck 54 into service with a ceremony that included a spray-down and pushing the truck back into the bay, following fire service traditions.

Arvada Fire is governed by a five-member Board of Directors. Board meetings, with the exception of any executive session called by the board, are open to the public and held on the first Wednesday of every month at Headquarters. Board information, including meeting minutes and other documents, can be found at arvadafireco.gov.

Strategic Plan

In 2023, Arvada Fire created a strategic plan to provide a management roadmap and guide priorities over the next five years.

Strategic planning involves a community-driven process, meaning both external and internal stakeholders were invited to participate and provide feedback. The external stakeholders included citizens, public safety partners, business leaders, and elected officials. Our internal stakeholders include members from every rank and division within our agency.

After a year of meetings and diligent efforts, our 2024-2028 Strategic Plan was finalized and published in 2023. This plan ensures Arvada Fire is continuously working to achieve the highest level of professionalism and efficiency with the services we provide. The plan also ensures we understand the expectations our community has and strive to meet them.

This strategic plan includes defined goals, objectives and tasks that can be implemented with measurable results. Our stakeholders utilized a strategic environmental analytic method known as SOAR, where members consider the organization’s current strengths, opportunities, future aspirations, and strategic results to formulate a path for continuous improvement.

Summarized briefly, the major goals formulated as a result of this process include:

• protecting the community from wildfire;

• recruiting and retaining qualified members;

• planning for the seamless integration of Fairmount Fire Protection District through a merger;

• improving the wellness of all our members;

• and being an industry leader in proactive risk reduction practices.

These goals all represent a timely issue within the fire service or the community. Working towards these targets will both make our community safer and our organization stronger.

In the following years, Arvada Fire will be implementing these goals and measuring results. Citizens can read more about our goals, visions, and strategic plan progress by visiting:

arvadafireco.gov/strategicplan

The successful integration of Fairmount Plan. The two agencies trained together

Arvada Fire takes preventing incidents industry leader in risk reduction is one

2024-28 Goals

Wellness

Improve the wellness of all members and their families by providing a comprehensive program that supports psychological and physical health encompassing their personal and professional lives.

Integration

Plan and prepare for the successful and seamless integration of Fairmount and Arvada Fire Protection Districts to provide the highest quality service while maintaining a community connection.

Wildfire

Provide for the life safety of the community and the protection of property in the district from wildfire to minimize the potential loss of life and property.

Workforce

Develop a program to recruit and retain qualified members and sustain organizational continuity.

Risk Reduction

Be an industry leader by normalizing risk reduction practices, using proactive and preventative strategies, and achieving measurable outcomes resulting in a more resilient workforce and community.

Fairmount Fire Protection District into Arvada Fire is one goal outlined in the Strategic together regularly in 2023 while collaborating in increased ways.

as responding to them. Aspiring to be an

the Strategic Plan.

Arvada Fire responded to 268 fire incidents in 2023, which includes structure fires, outside or vegetation fire, and vehicle fires. We also transported more than 9,000 patients to area hospitals following medical emergencies, which made up nearly 78 percent of our call volume.

Operations & Training

Arvada Fire responded to more than 17,600 emergency incidents and requests for services in the year 2023. Thankfully, our call volume has seen a very slight decrease for consecutive years, which we attribute to our efforts to prevent and mitigate risks in our community. However, our call volume remains about 37% higher than it was ten years ago when we first began offering emergency medical transport services.

In 2023, our crews responded to 13,331 medical emergencies, which represents three-quarters of our call volume. We had seven qualifying incidents and 36 members receive a Phoenix Award, which is awarded for cardiac arrest saves with resuscitation and no lasting deficits to the patient. Our EMS personnel also wrote a successful grant for two Zoll cardiac monitors, implemented a modern narcotic medication security system, and taught at the annual Colorado State EMS Conference.

Our firefighters responded to several notable fires during the year. On July 13, crews extinguished a fully involved structure fire with exposure into a neighboring home on Yarrow Street. In August, our personnel responded to a second-alarm fire with heavy fire conditions on Independence St. On the year, our fire suppression efforts resulted in a projected save of more than $30 million in property value.

All of our special operations teams and personnel — technical rescue, wildland, hazardous materials, and water and ice rescue — conducted specialized training to retain certifications and readiness. Arvada Fire continued to participate in

the North Area Technical Rescue Team (NATRT) and the Adams and Jefferson County Hazardous Response Authority (AJCHRA).

A joint crew between Arvada Fire and Fairmount completed a wildfire deployment to California near Yosemite National Park. Crews also responded to several regional wildfires, including the Hogback Fire near Red Rocks and the Bear Fire in Golden Gate Canyon State Park.

In 2023, Arvada Fire launched its Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program in partnership with WellPower to expand and improve care to individuals experiencing behavioral health crisis, homelessness, or substance abuse. This pathway to care can reduce costly hospitalizations and arrests while improving the availability of other resources such as ambulances. The STAR program made 712 contacts for service in 2023.

Our operations personnel were bolstered by nine promotions and the hiring of 15 new firefighters through two joint recruit academies. Five personnel retired with more than 100 years of cumulative service to our district.

The training section provides timely training and skills to our personnel, enhancing their safety and effectiveness. In 2023, training supported two joint recruit academies and quarterly multicompany drills that included live fire training, victim rescuing, elevated fire attack, wellness, and more. They also facilitated officer and executive development training totaling 1,844 hours to build our future leaders in the fire service.

55,390

Total documented training hours from all Arvada Fire personnel

$30.5 M

Fire suppression efforts saved $30,456,995 in property value

Emergency Response & Risk Reduction

2023 Call Volume

17,605

Risk Reduction

Division Highlights

Arvada Fire’s mission and frontline personnel are aided by the efforts of several divisions and personnel with specialized skills.

Planning and Support Services (PSSD)

This division provides critical support to our district while overseeing the information technology, maintenance, and planning sections.

Our mechanics completed 806 work orders and kept our 76 district vehicles — including fire engines, ambulances, and utility vehicles — in service and ready to serve the needs of our community.

In 2023, Arvada Fire placed two new apparatus into service. New Truck 54 is a 2023 Pierce Velocity apparatus with a 107-foot aerial ladder. Medic 56 is a Ford F-450, four-wheel drive ambulance designed with modern features and tools for patient and responder safety. In 2023, Arvada Fire also purchased a new Type 3 wildland fire engine, Brush 59. PSSD also accomplished:

• Upgraded aging radios with the latest technology offered by Motorola, replacing all station, vehicle, and handheld radio units.

• Developed the 2024-2028 Strategic Plan, completed our final accreditation appraisal, and prepared for re-accreditation in 2024.

• Implemented security measures to stay in front of evolving cyber security threats.

• Conducted a comprehensive facilities condition assessment to create a strategic maintenance and replacement plan of all district stations and buildings.

Fire Marshal’s Office

The Fire Marshal’s Office (FMO) is responsible for the application and enforcement of fire codes in all buildings within our service area, as well as the review and permitting of construction and development. The office also conducts fire investigations, monitors trends, and advocates for new fire codes or public education that may improve safety and protect lives.

In 2023, the Fire Marshal’s Office accomplished:

• The inspected more than 51 million square feet of property for code compliance through 1,943 initial inspections and 1,331 reinspections.

• Ensured the future safety of planned development and construction projects through 314 development reviews, 467 plan reviews, and 911 construction inspections.

• Participated in a partnership with Xcel Energy and PanoAI for the use of two wildfire detection cameras viewing our Wildland Urban Interface (WUI).

• Conducted a total of 70 fire investigations.

Human Resources

Human Resources facilatated several hiring processes, including two firefighter EMT/ paramedic hiring cycles, while supporting the benefits and development of all employees.

Logistics

The Logistics section ensures our stations and personnel have the needed station supplies, apparatus equipment, emergency medical supplies, uniforms and protective equipment to carry out our mission.

Community Risk Reduction

All operations personnel and members of our Community Risk Reduction (CRR) section proactively identify current and future risks to our community, and carry out programs and initiatives to lessen or prevent their occurence. In 2023, our risk reduction efforts included 359 home safety visits, more than 1,000 smoke and Carbon Monoxide alarm installs, and 650 free blood pressure checks, among many others.

The demand for Dave’s Locker, a free medical equipment loanee program, continues to grow. The locker assisted more than 5,600 customers and loanded 7,933 individual pieces of equipment in 2023. The locker is managed by Don and Theresa Lindsey, who received the Arvada Chamber of Commerce’s 2023 Image Award.

Personnel Highlights

Retirements

Lieutenant John Campbell

Purchasing Coordinator Dave Cannon

Captain Todd Hill

Captain Daniel Roozen

Lieutenant Scott Stringham

Promotions

Lieutenant Jon Garcia

Captain Andrew Higgins

Training Lieutenant Stephen Johnson

Lieutenant Gabriel Katz

Captain Daniel Knoebel

Engineer Todd Paicurich

Lieutenant Kyle Rice

Lieutenant Paramedic Michael Roluti

Captain Derrick Varela

Academy Graduates

Joint Recruit Academy 23-01

Firefighter Paramedic Takotah Bonds

Firefighter Clarke Brown

Firefighter Joshua Elder

Firefighter Connor Heslop

Firefighter Jesus Lopez

Firefighter Johnathan Price

Firefighter Paramedic Aidan Richardson

Firefighter Robert Volatile

Joint Recruit Academy 23-02

Firefighter Matthew Cannon

Firefighter Paramedic Ryan Duggan

Firefighter Paramedic Karlee Hendricks

Firefighter Makayla Keith

Firefighter Paramedic George Levterov

Firefighter Paramedic Antonio Scancarello

Firefighter Paramedic Connor Zeray

2023 Award Honors

Firefighter of the Year: Dave Thomas

Employee of the Year: Brady Johnson

Lt. Jim Schaefer Award: Scott Long

Schaefer Scholarship: Cassidy Leyva

Individual Award: Robert Putfark, Nicole Stewart, Bryce Segovia, Justin Sutton, Seth Smith

Citizen Award: Lisa Chavez, City of Arvada

Group Awards

Documentation and Accreditation: Jen Sliemers, Tracy Vitale

Radio Workgroup: Adam Posey, Jen Sliemers, Gabe Steele, Phil Trujillo

Fleet Services: Kurtis Knight, Kevin Depew, Matt Spencer, Dario

Puentes-Villanueva, Tracy Vitale

Academy Cadre: Brendan Kelly, Jason King , Zack Rubenking, Bryce Segovia

Phoenix Award: Nate Girard, Ryan Miller, Tyler Beck, Matt Brungardt, Ryan Powell, Zack Rubenking, Cory Ziegler, Jeremy Gaccetta, Jason King, Breydon Lyall, Thomas Lyons, Sean Quinn, Troy Rodvold, Sterling Wise, Sawyer Rone, Arthur Bruck, William Gantt, Connor Heslop, Brendan Kelly, Tyler Morris, Matt Osier, Jeremy Roberts, Vic Stehle, Scott Antill, Jamie Denison, Mona Hassanein, Sam Laurent, Frank Lonardo, Jesus Lopez, Ross Vance, David Vath, Brian Drumm, Steven Kentfield, Todd Paicurich, Mike Roluti, Cody Thompson

35 Years of Service: Donny Varra

30 Years of Service: Todd Gilgren

25 Years of Service: Sue Steward, Todd Weiler, Robert Widom, Bert Brooks, Curtis Harms, Todd Hobler, Daniel Knoebel

20 Years of Service: Travis Fox, Colin McKeever, Todd Sassen

15 Years of Service: Christian Humbert, Jason King , Kurtis Knight, Scott Winberg

10 Years of Service: Matt Spencer

5 Years of Service: Elise Guidry, James Knowles, Sean Quinn, Daniel Salerno

2023 Financial Summary

Arvada Fire is committed to financial transparency and being exceptional stewards of the public’s tax dollars. In 2023, Arvada Fire received the Government Finance Officer’s Association (GFOA) Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for our 2022 Audited Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (AFCR). Financial documents are posted on our website at arvadafireco.gov.