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Dedication and Service 50 Years on Call with the Volunteers of Colorado’s Genesee Fire Rescue

DEAN ROTBART and HANK O’BRIEN with Past and Present Members of Genesee Fire Rescue 1

Dedication and Service 50 Years on Call with the Volunteers of Colorado’s Genesee Fire Rescue DEAN ROTBART and HANK O’BRIEN with Past and Present Members of Genesee Fire Rescue

DEDICATION To all the volunteers of America who put their lives on the line in the service of others.

D.R.

To my wife, Carol, and all the firefighter/EMS volunteers past and present, especially my father, Frank; grandfather, Pete; uncle, Doug; and Rowayton cousins, Gary and Bob. H.O.B.

“I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a [firefighter]. The position may, in the eyes of some, appear to be a lowly one; but we who know the work which the [firefighter] has to do believe that [this] is a noble calling. Our proudest moment is to save lives. Under the impulse of such thoughts, the nobility of the occupation thrills us and stimulates us to deeds of daring, even of supreme sacrifice.” Edward F. Croker

Chief, FDNY (1899-1911)

TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword: John Bales

Introduction

Authors’ Note

Incident Report: He Was Not a Very Nice Man

Section One: Origins

Incident Report: Man in the High-Top Shoes

Chapter One: The Fabric of America

Chapter Two: My Colorado Home: Genesee

Chapter Three: And That’s The Way It Was

Section Two: Emergency-Ready

Chapter One: The Call of Duty

Incident Report: Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Chapter Two: Wherever Flames May Rage

Chronicles: Fire Hydrants Every 500 Feet

Chapter Three: We Don’t Rise to the Level of Our Expectations, We Fall to the Level of Our Training

Incident Report: Like a Good Neighbor

101

Chapter Four: Generations of Pumpers, Aerials, Brush Trucks, and Fond Memories • A Primer on Firefighting Apparatus

103 107

Midsection Photos

116

Section Three: Chiefs 1973-2023

141

Chapter One: Sandy Schumacher: A Backup Call Girl Brian Kimmel: A Deadly 17,000 Volts James L. “Jim” Rumsey: Responding with Celerity and Expertise

143

Chapter Two:1980-2000 Joseph Robert “Bob” Troutman: No Place to Dunebuggy Loren Dennis “Denny” Schuler: A Single Wreck Good for Multiple Drills Michael A. “Mike” Cantwell: Ixnay the Beer Richard G. “Rich” Jones: “What’s That Liquid I Keep Smelling?” Steven Allen “Steve” Harms: “We Are So Close to a 4 Rating” Timothy “Tim” John Collins: A Passionate, Driven, Enthusiastic Individual

151

Incident Report: Summon the Posse

152

Chronicles: All in the Family

161

Chapter Three: 2000-2008 William Aaron Easterling: The Face of Genesee Fire Frank W. Beebe: “The Reality is Just a Little Worse” Matthew L. Solano: The Man in the Middle Frederick G. “Fritz” Ihrig: “For God’s Sake, We Need to Look Like Firefighters”

169

Chronicles: A Wide Spectrum of Professionals

173

Chapter Four: 2008-2023 Scott G. Mefford: Thanks for Saving Our House John Carlton Babbs III: “It Was Easily the Most Pucker Moment of My Career” Roelof R. Snieder: “Give Somebody Your Confidence” John A. Seward: “You’re Getting Paid For This. I’m Not” Jason Richard Puffett: Lead From the Front • Joe Auster: A Mentor, Friend, and Collaborator

185

Section Four: Backward Glance, Forward Vision

211

Chapter One: September 11th Forever Recast the Character of Genesee Fire Rescue

213

Chapter Two: The Challenges And Opportunities Ahead

223

203

Back of the Book Select Sources

227

Acknowledgements

229

About the Authors

230

Also Available From TJFR Press

232

Index

234

Library of Congress / Copyright / ISBN

247

FOREWORD Dedication and Service masterfully tells the story of Genesee Fire Rescue, a remarkable volunteer fire company in the foothills west of Denver. The Genesee firefighters are professional in every sense of the word. They are always on duty, alert, disciplined, and willing to respond with the most modern and well-maintained equipment. Through perpetual training, outstanding leadership, and steadfast devotion to community service, the Genesee fire force has earned its place among the top volunteer departments in the state. There are approximately 1.2 million firefighters in the United States, and 65% of them are volunteers. This book is an inspiring testament to the enduring spirit of American volunteerism, a beacon that continues to shine in towns and cities nationwide, often with little fanfare. For half a century, the men and women of Genesee Fire Rescue have confronted perilous situations, combating wildfires, extinguishing home and commercial blazes, aiding and evacuating residents who become ill, and attending some of the worst imaginable motor vehicle accidents, all while placing themselves in life-threatening situations. For their efforts, the volunteers have won the immeasurable gratitude of those they serve and the priceless satisfaction of knowing that what they give of themselves genuinely matters. This book is a tribute to those firefighters, past and present, and their dedicated work and personal sacrifices. Dedication and Service is a poignant celebration of the heroes next door, those ordinary yet extraordinary individuals who show up for neighbors and strangers in their times of need, putting their lives on the line with each and every emergency they respond to. The fire service is a family. I am extremely grateful and honored that Genesee Fire Rescue played an important role in my fire service career and my fire service family.

—John Bales

President, Colorado Fallen Firefighters Foundation

John Bales is one of the most respected firefighters in Colorado and revered nationwide. From 2001 to 2018, he was the fire chief for the City of Golden Fire Department. A second-generation firefighter, Bales devoted a total of 50 years to the fire service in multiple capacities. His son, Steven, is an officer with the Denver Fire Department. Bales has served as an adjunct instructor for the National Fire Academy. He is a past president of both the Colorado Fire Training Officers Association and the Denver Metro Fire Chiefs Association. Portrait: John Bales Jon Rose Photography

INTRODUCTION T

his book is a celebration of a little volunteer engine company that could, and has, for five decades.

It also is intended to salute the tens of thousands of other volunteer and mostly volunteer fire departments throughout the nation that are dedicated to public service and safety. Located 20 miles west of downtown Denver in the majestic foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the unincorporated community of Genesee sits on the southern edge of Interstate-70, across the highway from the regal Lookout Mountain. Both locations offer a cornucopia of awe-inspiring vistas, woodlands, mountain flowers, wild birds, and roaming game. Genesee is home to approximately 4,000 residents. Its fire district comprises a four-square-mile area containing about 1,500 homes, 28 commercial buildings, and 1,200 acres of open space. For 50 years, Genesee Fire Rescue (GFR) has recruited and trained resident volunteers to provide round-the-clock fire protection and emergency medical services. When not donning bunker or wildfire gear, its members hail from all walks of life: lawyers, physicians, pilots, bankers, engineers, professors, entrepreneurs, armed services members, FBI agents, homemakers, students, and retirees, included. Genesee, begun as a mining community, became a high-altitude haven for Denverites seeking cooler, fresher summer air in the era before air conditioning. A smattering of cabins and modest homes, some lacking electricity and indoor plumbing, dotted the foothills landscape. After years of legal wrangling, in the early 1970s a group of visionary commercial land developers began selling lots and constructing Genesee as one of the first planned mountain communities on the outskirts of Denver. The newly built homes were spread out, nestled high among the Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir, often accessible only via narrow dirt roads. That posed a serious impediment — and risk — to the nearby mountain fire agencies that were originally responsible for answering emergency calls in Genesee. The task was especially daunting during the winter months when snow drifts buried Genesee’s rudimentary vehicle arteries. Ultimately, the Genesee community developers had the good sense to form their own fire company, which became operational in 1973. In its infancy, GFR’s “volunteers” were also paid employees of the Genesee Land Company. Their focus was on clearing trees and brush that posed a fire hazard. A pickup truck equipped with a water tank seated in its bed, a motor, and a oneinch line of hose functioned as GFR’s only “fire engine.” The earliest volunteers were well-meaning but hardly qualified by today’s standards. In many respects, GFR began as a “boys club,” where neighborhood men gathered for camaraderie, sharing laughs and a few beers. A common quip heard around the firehouse was, “Come for the party, stay for the fire.” Over time, however, Genesee’s fire department began to take itself more seriously and embarked on an unwavering and ongoing path of professional advancement. 17

Dedication and Service Today, despite its small size and continuing reliance on resident volunteers, GFR has evolved into a model of capable emergency response, community wildland prevention and suppression, innovative training academies, and the recruitment and promotion of female firefighters and officers. A half-dozen or so times annually, members of GFR join with companies from around the region and nation in battling federal wildfires as far away as Texas, California, and Oregon. On initial impression, the men and women of GFR, like volunteer firefighters throughout the country, seem to be an enigma. Why do they do it? They get paid nothing for the hundreds of hours that many of them dedicate each year to training and service. They put life and limb at risk. They witness injuries and tragedies that, once seen, can never be forgotten. They are on perpetual call, often summoned to the station in the dead of night, and in Colorado, at least, asked to perform in blizzards and sub-zero conditions. These firefighters’ commitment to serving their communities and neighbors may not be uniquely American, but it is steeped in an American ethos that — while so much else has changed or vanished — has endured since Benjamin Franklin helped organize Philadelphia’s all-volunteer “Bucket Brigade” in 1736. A sense of history and continuity is one intangible that equips each volunteer firefighter with a mission and an unassailable sense of pride. The men and women of Genesee Fire Rescue have responded to thousands of calls over the decades — chimney and stove fires, auto accidents, medical traumas, and wildland flares — most of them imminently forgettable, as well as some that you’ll read about in this commemorative book that will never be forgotten. There was the three-year-old kidnapped girl who was molested and dumped in a remote outhouse pit. GFR was an integral part of the team that rescued her after three horrid days. There was the trucker whose rig lost its brakes on the steep Interstate-70 incline approaching Denver from the west. His body, after a sustained search, was finally located impaled on a fence at the bottom of a ravine. There was the gas leak explosion in the garage of a Genesee home that almost cost two volunteers their lives. And, in December 2021, there was the Marshall Fire, the most destructive wildfire in Colorado’s history. GFR joined with dozens of other fire companies to battle the blaze, which engulfed more than 1,000 structures and scorched more than 6,000 acres. All in a day’s work for the volunteers. While Dedication and Service relays the story of Genesee Fire Rescue, each and every member of today’s company is keenly aware that they are part of a larger “family” of firefighters that shares DNA with volunteer and paid firefighters throughout the country and across time. It is telling that when retired members of GFR are asked to reflect on their fondest memories of their years on the job, without exception, they speak of the bonds they built with their fellow volunteers. “You have your friends and your neighbors,” observes veteran firefighter John Bales, a one-time GFR trainer. “But fire folks, your close friends, they’re your family. You know their kids’ names. You know their wives’ birthdays. You know 18

Introduction things about them that they don’t tell anybody else.” Bill Easterling, who spent 23 years with Genesee Fire Rescue, bristles at any suggestion that volunteer firefighters are, in any shape, manner, or form, amateurs or hobbyists. “You’re going to be there when somebody’s having the worst day of their life. So don’t call yourself a volunteer anymore. You’re not ‘just a volunteer.’ You’re a professional and you are volunteering your professional expertise to the community.” And so it is. The volunteers of Genesee Fire Rescue and members of the 23,000-plus other volunteer or mostly volunteer fire companies may not be compensated, but they are no less competent or dedicated. That is well worth honoring and celebrating.

— Dean Rotbart Hank O’Brien September 2023

AUTHORS’ NOTE If one looks closely enough at the 50-year history of Genesee Fire Rescue, it’s not hard to find blemishes, even pronounced flaws. The company has not been atypical when it comes to the foibles of human nature, and to tell GFRs history otherwise would airbrush the reality. Across the decades, there were boors and egotists among the volunteers and leaders. Some members of the company could be crude, mocking their fellow volunteers to their face or — more often — behind their backs. Disagreements over the direction of the department occasionally split the volunteers down the middle. Women on the force were valued and made impressive contributions. But sometimes, they were treated as less-than-equal members of the “fraternity” of firefighters. Relations with nearby mountain fire departments were usually cordial but almost always competitive — and sometimes even nasty. More than one GFR officer quit prematurely out of pique. By design, this text does not deny these defects, but it will not dwell on them either. After all, shortcomings are not exceptional to any group of co-workers who bring different backgrounds and values to the job. All the more so, volunteers. To probe the imperfections is to miss the point. What made — and makes — Genesee Fire Rescue’s members remarkable is that despite their different backgrounds, their internal and external conflicts, and their personality quirks, when the calls come in, the volunteers respond as one — dedicated to the centuries-old creed of volunteer firefighters: unselfish public service, courage, and duty.

Incident Report

Narrative:

Incident Name: Child Abduction

Incident Type: Rescue

Location: Stapleton Park

Date: August 1983

Personnel: Highland Rescue and Genesee Fire Rescue

Mutual Aid: Yes

He Was Not a Very Nice Man I go down there and there’s this man and a lady. I said, “How old is your child?” He said, “We’ve never seen this kid before.”

azing skyward, three-year-old Lori Poland, shivering and wearing only soiled panties, watched as day turned into night and back to day again. Three times.

Her legs and swollen feet were numb, no longer able to feel the chilly pool of fecal sludge and urine she was standing in. Her rescuers would be nauseated by the stench, but mercifully, after only a few hours at the bottom of the outhouse pit, the blond-haired, blue-eyed child stopped noticing. “Mommy,” she whimpered time and again. “Mommy.” If Cynthia Gaulin, a tourist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, hadn’t needed to answer nature’s call, little Lori almost certainly would have died in that remote foothills hellhole. Birdwatchers, Cynthia and her husband Steven were driving to a nearby mountain park hoping to spot the rare Williamson’s sapsucker when they got lost. The couple spotted a remote outhouse in Stapleton Park, just north of Interstate-70, near Genesee Park, and drove there. Rising from under the wooden latrine seat came a soft cry. “Mommy. I want some Kool-Aid.” Gaulin’s husband, Steven, retrieved a flashlight from the couple’s car and shone it down the darkened toilet hole. There, 12 feet below, was little Lori. “What are you doing there?” he asked. (L-R) Joanne Greenberg, Lori Poland, and Alan Fletcher 23

Dedication and Service “I live here,” the confused child answered. Lori had not fallen in, as if that would have been nightmare enough for any toddler. Days earlier, witnesses told police, Lori had been sitting at the curb in front of her home in the Denver suburb of Sheridan, sucking on a Popsicle and playing with her 5-year-old brother and friends. A young, clean-shaven man approached Lori, ordered her to take off her pants, and lured her into his four-door, orange-brown 1972 Datsun 510 before speeding off. Lori’s mother, Diane, was at work at the time. Her father, Richard, inside the home, didn’t witness the abduction. Lori’s tormentor, 21-year-old Robert Paul Thiret, had demonstrated a predilection for sexual deviance since the age of 13. Court records unsealed in September 1984 in connection with his sentencing for his assault on Lori were sinister: three other children attacked, two attempts to abduct kids, two allegations involving women’s underwear, obscene phone calls, three thefts, and two burglaries. According to a press account, Thiret had also been accused of performing oral sex on two boys, aged three and four, and was suspected in two attempted child abductions the month before Lori was taken. Thiret left Lori for dead and no doubt never imagined how justice — or at least what the judge and others would come to call “better than no justice” — finally dealt the reprobate a ten-year prison sentence. Thiret might have faced 48 years in jail for his crimes, but before the case went to trial, prosecutors allowed him to plea bargain away some counts due to concerns about the admissibility of certain evidence. In the end, Thiret would only serve six of his ten-year sentence. He was subsequently incarcerated for an additional six months for telephone harassment. Efforts by then-Colorado Governor Roy Romer to prevent Thiret’s release were unsuccessful. The 28-year-old, sporting a trim beard and shaggy hair, stepped out of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s jail and into an awaiting van on December 7, 1990. Lori Poland was ten years old.

Four decades after she was kidnapped on August 22, 1983, Lori Poland’s rescue stands as one of the most dramatic moments in the history of Genesee Fire Rescue. Her kidnapping and safe recovery, as well as the trial and sentencing of Thiret, generated global headlines. Besides the invaluable role that fate played, the credit for Lori’s deliverance belongs to the Gaulins for summoning the Highland Rescue Team’s paramedics, and other nearby first responders who rushed to the scene. As one prosecuting attorney later recounted, from the very first moment the authorities received word of the abduction, time became of the essence. If she was alive, she wasn’t going to be alive much longer. The pride Genesee Fire Rescue takes for its part in the rescue of Lori stems from its hand-in-glove working relationship with Highland Rescue, located on Lookout Mountain Road, three-and-a-half miles north of the GFR fire station. To this day, the two public safety crews almost always respond in tandem to local emergencies, and members of the two departments often turn up on each other’s rosters. 24

Incident Report: He Was Not a Very Nice Man Among the first responders to arrive at the outhouse was 50-year-old Joanne Greenberg, one of the early female volunteer firefighters who began responding to emergency calls in Denver’s foothills when the Genesee community still existed primarily on the architectural blueprints of the Genesee Land Company. Like many public safety volunteers in those days, Greenberg had a Plectron in her home, a radio receiver that was a type of emergency alert system — later replaced by pagers. I was sitting up here minding my own business and the box started going, “Kid down the commode.” It was, she surmised, just another overly curious or mischievous youngster who had tumbled into the bowels of an outhouse. I’ll throw the kid a rope and that’s it. But as it turned out, Lori’s case was anything but another run-of-the-mill mishap. I go down there and there’s this man and a lady. I said, “How old is your child?” He said, “We’ve never seen this kid before.” In rapid succession, additional responders from area fire and ambulance companies arrived to help. One, 31-year-old Stephen Bakker, volunteered to be lowered by rope into the pit to carry Lori out. According to witnesses who were on the scene, Bakker was the obvious choice because he was smaller in stature than the other male rescuers. In those days, even though Greenberg and women in nearby fire and rescue companies had been on the job for years, they were rarely, if ever, allowed to expose themselves to the same potential risks as their male colleagues. Bakker called down to Lori, asking a seemingly obvious question. Do you want to come out? “Yes,” the faint voice responded. So down went Bakker. Slowly. Lower and lower, until he held frightened little Lori in his arms. When Bakker resurfaced with the squinting Lori, she clung to him. She didn’t want to let go. She was going to stay there and just hold on for a while. Lori was rushed by ambulance to Denver’s St. Anthony Hospital, about 15 miles away. Greenberg rode along. For a traumatized three-year-old who had spent three-plus days alone in a stinking, dark hole, Lori surprised Greenberg with her alertness. We talked about grandpa. We talked about dad. We talked about pizza. We talked about them laying a new floor in the bathroom. 25

Dedication and Service The one thing Lori wouldn’t share with Greenberg was her name. I think her mother said, “Don’t talk to strangers,” and Lori remembered that lesson despite her ordeal. Halfway to St. Anthony, Lori confided in Greenberg. He was not a very nice man. In the hospital emergency room, Lori was finally reunited with her 25-year-old mother. Both of them wept. We got her back, we got her back! She looks good, she’s a little bruised and scared, but she said, “I want a Popsicle.” Thank God she’s home. On Lori’s way to the X-ray room, a nurse handed her a grape Popsicle. Lori’s hospital room was flooded with gifts for the child, including 21 large stuffed animals. Frontier Airlines and First Financial Securities Corp. announced they’d pick up the entire tab for a Disneyland vacation for Lori, her parents, and her five-year-old brother. The hospital said it would waive any fees for the Poland family. Lori, herself, had only one plea, as she told her mother. I don’t want to go back in that hole again.

Although Lori was still too young for preschool, she was able to single out Thiret from a police lineup. That both helped convict her abductor and gave his attorneys grounds to challenge the case against their client, questioning the ability of a child so young to serve as a credible witness. Media reports at the time, based partly on statements from a hospital spokesman, said that Lori had not been sexually assaulted. That wasn’t accurate. It’s likely that Lori’s parents and law enforcement officials misled the media to shield Lori from any possible stigma that would attach itself to her as a victim of a sex crime. In part to spare Lori from having to testify at a trial — and to spare her loved ones from having the medical evidence of her rape publicly scrutinized — Littleton District Court Judge Charles Friedman agreed to drop the charges of kidnapping and child abuse against Thiret, in exchange for him pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a child and attempted first-degree murder. During the one-hour court proceeding in September 1984, Richard and Diane Poland held hands and wept silently. John Lawritson, their attorney, spoke to the media on behalf of the Polands. I think Lori’s family is very disappointed that someone could snatch a three-year-old in front of her house and do what he wants with her for his own gratification and then throw her in a pit to die. I hope this will end a terrifying and devastating 26

Incident Report: He Was Not a Very Nice Man chapter in Lori Poland’s life and that of her family. We have a feeling some justice is better than no justice at all.

The most recent word on Robert Paul Thiret is that he is a transient living in Southern California, listed on the state’s Department of Justice sexual offenders registry. He turned 61 in June 2023. Lori Poland turned 43 years old in July 2023. To her parents’ enormous credit, as she explains in a biography on her website, they worked tirelessly to provide her with a normal childhood. We didn’t move, we didn’t run, we went about our lives, trying to sludge through it. And together we were able to do so, not without a lot of struggles and pain. Yet we muddied through it all. At age 15, Lori decided to dedicate her life to helping others. She earned a degree in counseling/psychology and, as a therapist, has worked with patients suffering from child abuse and neglect. In December 2017, she and Dr. Richard Krugman, the former dean of the University of Colorado Medical School, launched The National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect (EndCAN), a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of the physical, mental, and public health impacts of abuse. Dr. Krugman had been there back in 1983, heading the agency where Lori completed her forensic interview after her kidnapping. Writes Lori: I can’t NOT do this work, for my children, for their friends, and for my-someday-grandchildren, if we can eliminate their pain and suffering, I am going to do everything I can to make that happen.

In late 2021, in anticipation of this volume, Lori was reunited at the GFR firehouse with Joanne Greenberg and Alan Fletcher, a GFR and Highland Rescue volunteer who was among those who worked to save her life 38 years earlier. The three were strangers, but forever bonded. “I thought about reaching out many times,” Fletcher told Lori, a sentiment that Greenberg echoed. You guys played a pretty big role [in my rescue]. Thank you.

INDEX Abbreviations Introduction: Intro

Chapter Four: 2008 - 2023: C-4

SECTION ONE

SECTION FOUR

The Fabric of America: Fabric

September 11th Forever Recast GFR: Sept 11

My Colorado Home: Genesee: Early

The Challenges and Opportunities Ahead: Future

And That’s The Way It Was: Way SECTION TWO The Call of Duty: Marshall Wherever Flames May Rage: Wildland We Don’t Rise to the Level of Our Expectations: Training Generations of Pumpers and Fond Memories: Trucks SECTION THREE Chapter One: Schumacher, Kimmel, and Rumsey: C-1 Chapter Two: 1980 - 2000: C-2 Chapter Three: 2000 - 2008: C-3

INCIDENT REPORTS and CHRONICLES Incident Report: “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” — IR-1 Incident Report: “Like a Good Neighbor” — IR-2 Incident Report: “He Was Not a Very Nice Man” — IR-3 Incident Report: “Summon the Posse” — IR-4 Incident Report: “Man in the High-Top Shoes” — IR-5 Chronicles: “Fire Hydrants Every 500 Feet” — CR-1 Chronicles: “All in the Family” — CR-2 Chronicles: “A Wide Spectrum of Professionals” — CR-3

A A Mighty Long Way (Book) — C-4 al-Qaeda — Sept 11 All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association (AHIMTA) — C-3 Allen, Woody — Future Alonson, Ramon E. — C-1 American Airlines Flight 11 — Sept 11 AmeriCorps — Fabric Andrews, Jim — C-2, IR-5, Training Ansbro, Andrew — Sept 11 Arvada Fire Department — Future Associated Press, The — C-3 Atta, Mohamed — Sept 11 234

Aurora Fire Department — Training Auster, Joe — C-4 Auster, Tracy — C-4 Avista Adventist Hospital — Marshall

B Babbs, Cara — C-4 Babbs, Carlton — Sept 11, C-3, C-4, Trucks, Training Babbs, Harriett, Herron — C-4 Babbs, Dr. Reverend John Carlton — C-4 Babbs, Kristin — Sept 11 Babbs, Maia — Sept 11, C-4 Babbs, Michael — Sept 11 Babbs, Zachary — Sept 11 Babbs Memorial Chapel — C-4 Babcock, Ryan — C-4, Training Bakker, Stephen — IR-3 Bales, John — C-2, Intro, Training Ballenger, Jane — C-1, Way Barbour, Jeanne — C-1, Way Barenburg, Doug — C-4, CR-3 Barrowman, Sue — C-2, Training Battlement Creek Fire — Wildland Bauer, Jim — C-1, Way Beebe, Frank W. — C-3 Beebe, Selma — C-3 Benson, Paul — Trucks Bertelson, Linda — C-1, Way Bird, Judy — C-2 Black Mountain Forest Fire — Wildland, C-4 Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity — C-3 Boblak, Steve — Way Bonfils, Frederick — Early Bonifacius (Book) — Fabric Bonnelle, Charles, O. — C-3 Boulder Mountain Fire — CR-2 Boyd, Sue — Way Boyles, Josh — Marshall, CR-2, Wildland Brooks, Sid — Way Bruegman, Randy — Training Bruno, David, J. — C-2 Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave — IR-5, Trucks Buffalo Creek Fire — Wildland Bureau of Land Management — Trucks Burgess, Ken — C-1, Way Busch, Hays — Way Bush, President George W. — Sept 11

235

C Call Girls — C-1 Calvi, Nettie — Training, Way Cameron, Tim — C-1, Way Cameron Peak Fire — Wildland Cantwell, Mike — C-1, C-2, Training, Trucks, Way Carlson, Erin — C-4 Castro, Adrian — CR-2, CR-3 Cataract Engine & Hose — CR-2 Cecil, Rowan — Way CenturyLink — Early Chase Manhattan — Sept 11 Chrysler Corporation — IR-5, Trucks Clifton Fire Department — Future Climax Molybdenum Company — IR-5 Cohen, Al — CR-1, Early, Wildland Collier, Bud — C-1, C-2, Way Collins, Tim — C-2 Colorado Construction Group, Inc. — Way Colorado Division of Fire Prevention & Control — Marshall, C-1 Colorado Fallen Firefighters Foundation — Training Colorado Home: Prospectors’ Song — Early Colorado National Guard — C-2 Colorado Parks and Wildlife — C-3 Colorado School of Mines — C-4 Colorado State Police — C-4 Community Wildfire Protection Plan (Genesee) — C-4 Congressional Research Service — Wildland Coon, Marshall — CR-2 Cooper, Kara — C-4 Coors Brewing Company — C-1, Training Coors Field — Early Cosell, Howard — Future Costco — Marshall COVID-19 — Fabric Cowell, Matt — Way Crabs Rippey, Helen — Early Cranmer, George, E. — Early Craven, Wes — IR-4 Crosby, Bing — Early Cunningham Fire Department — Way

D Dalton, Bob — C-4 CR-3, Fabric, Marshall, Wildland Dalton, Dorie — C-4, CR-3, Fabric, Training, Wildland Danek, Brad — C-4 Danek, Dave — C-4 Dean, James — Trucks 236

Deaton, Charles — Future Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency — Marshall, Fabric Denver Broncos — C-4 Denver East High School — Early Denver Federal Center — Fabric Denver Fire Department — C-2, C-3, Training Denver International Airport — IR-1 Denver Municipal Airport — C-3 Denver Olympic Committee — Early Denver Police — C-2, Early Denver Post, The — Early, C-3 Department of Defense — Fabric, Marshall Department of Human Services — C-3 Department of Justice — IR-3 DeSoto, Roy — Trucks Deutsche Bank Securities — Sept 11 DeVore, Terry — Wildland Dirking, Keith — CR-2, CR-3 Disneyland — IR-3 Dixon, Ann — Marshall Dixon, Rick — Marshall Dodson, Mike — Way Donald Wescott Fire Department — Future Dora Moore Elementary School — Wildland Dovey, Harvey — C-2 Dykhuis, Hank — Way

E Earl, Sue — C-1, Way East, J.H. Jr. — Early East Troublesome Fire — Wildland Easterling, Bill — Sept 11, C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4, Intro, Training, Trucks, Wildland Easterling, Tinsley — Sept 11, C-3 Edwards, Cliff — Trucks El Creek Fire Department — Future Emergency (NBC TV) — Trucks EndCAN — IR-3 Erickson, Robert — C-1 Evergreen Fire Rescue — C-4, IR-4

F Fairmount Fire and Rescue — C-2, C-4, Fabric, Future, Training Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) — C-2 Federal Aviation Administration — Sept 11 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — Fabric Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company — Early Fire Department of New York — Sept 11 Firefighter’s Prayer — Wildland 237

Fireman’s Ball — C-2, Way First Federal Savings and Loan — C-2 First Financial Securities Corp. — IR-3 FlatIron Crossing Shopping Center — Marshall Fletcher, Alan — C-2, C-4, CR-2, Fabric, IR-3, Training, Trucks, Way Flight for Life — Way Flying Saucer House — Future Foothills Fire and Rescue — C-1, C-4, Training, Trucks Ford Motor Company — C-2 Forest Oil — Training Fort Collins Fire Department — Training Fourmile Canyon Fire — Wildland Fox Plaza (Los Angeles) — Early Frame, Neil — CR-2, Trucks Franklin, Ben — C-3, Fabric, Way Freeman, Richard, B. — Fabric Freemasons — Fabric Friedman, Judge Charles — IR-3 Frontier Airlines — IR-3 Fuchs, Bob — C-2, Training

G Gaddis, Ryan — CR-2 Gage, Johnny — Trucks Gair, Robb — C-2, Training, Way, IR-2 Garcia, Joseph A. — Sept 11 Garnet, Gordon — Way Gaulin, Cynthia — IR-3 Gaulin, Steven — IR-3 Genescene (Newsletter) — C-1, C-2, C-4, Training, Way Genesee Associates — Early Genesee Business District — Trucks Genesee Fire Protection District Board — C-1, C-3, C-4, CR-2, Trucks, Way Genesee Foundation — IR-5, Training Genesee Land Company — C-1, CR-1, Early, Intro, IR-3, IR-5, Trucks Genesee Mountain — Early, Future Genesee Park — Early, Future, IR-5 Genesee Pub and BBQ — C-4 Genesee Town Center — Trucks Genesee Water and Sanitation District — C-1, Trucks Geralds, Dave — C-4, Training Golden Daily Transcript (Newspaper) — Early Golden Door Award — Trucks Golden Fire Department — Training Golden Gas Can Award — Trucks Goldman, Adam — C-4 Goodwin, Mary — Early Goodwin, William — Early Gordon, Garnet — Training 238

Goshen Hook and Ladder Company — CR-2 Grand Junction Fire Department — Future Granite Mountain Hotshots — Wildland Great Divide, The (Newspaper) — Early Greenberg, Joanne — IR-3 Greenstone, Peter — C-4, CR-3, Marshall, Wildland Greenstreet, Rich — C-2, Training Griffith, Bill — Way Grobjerg, Kirsten A. — Fabric Ground Zero — Sept 11

H Haber, Jean — C-2 Halpin, Steve — Way Halstead, Sheila — C-1, Way Hammock, Dan — C-4, CR-3 Hanlon, Ed — Way Harms, Kathy — Training, C-2 Harms, Steve — C-1, C-2 Hayman Fire — Wildland Herzfeld, Mark — CR-3 Heyliger, George — C-2 Hi Meadow Fire — C-3, Trucks, Wildland Hiemstra, Idske — C-4, Fabric High Park Fire — Wildland Highand Rescue — IR-3, C-2, C-4, IR-1, IR-5, Way Higley, Brewster M. — Early Hill and Dale Society — Early History of Genesee (Book) — Early Hoffman, Peggy — Way Home on the Range (Song) — Early Hook & Ladder Company No. 1 — Sept 11 Howelsen, Carl — Early Hoyt, Burnham — Early Hydrokinetics, Inc. — C-4

I IBM — Way Idledale Fire Rescue — C-2, Training, Trucks, Way Ihrig, Fritz — C-3, C-4, Fabric, Future, Trucks Ihrig (Shroyer), Joanne — C-3 Incident Qualification Card — Training Insurance Service Office (ISO) — C-2 Inter-Canyon Fire Department — Future

J JP Morgan — Sept 11 239

James Dean Festival — Trucks Jeffcom — C-4, Trucks Jefferson County Board of Commissioners — Early Jefferson County Fire Council — C-1 Jefferson County Fire Districts — C-4 Jefferson County Sheriff — C-2, IR-3 Joiner, Cleve — C-1, C-2, C-4 Jones, Rich — C-1, C-2, Training, Way Jones, Susan — C-2

K KBRR-AM — Early Keaton, Diane — Future Kelly, Daniel, E. — Early Ken-Caryl Ranch — C-2 Kimmel, Brian — C-1, Trucks, Way King, Patti — C-1, Way Knickel, Galen — C-1, Early, Wildland, CR-1 Knickel, Loraine — Early Kreuger, Mike — Way, Training Krugman, Dr. Richard — IR-3 Ku Klux Klan — C-3

L Lab Morgan — Sept 11 Lamb, Kitty — Way Lang, Doug — Way Lang, Laura — Way LaNier, Ira, C. — C-4 Lariat Wealth Management — C-4 Lawritson, John — IR-3 Leete, Laura — Fabric Levy, Glen — Training Lininger Mountain Fire — Wildland Little Rock Central High School — C-4 Littleton District Court — IR-3 Littleton Fire Department — Training Logan International Airport — Sept 11 Lookout Mountain Fire Protection District — C-1, Early, Training, Trucks Loveland Fire Rescue Authority — Marshall

M Mackey, Jack — Way Macy’s — Marshall Malachite Mine — Early Mars, Christie — C-1, Way Marsh, Andy — Fabric 240

Marshall Fire — Future, Intro, Marshall, Wildland Masse, Bob — Way Masse, Marlene — Way Masztaler, Stephen — CR-2 Mather, Cotton — Fabric McCabe, Bill — Early McClane, John — Early McCoy, Drew — C-2 McDougall, Diane — C-1, Way McLellan, Pete — Training Meany, John — CR-2, CR-3 Mefford, Anne — Sept 11 Mefford, Jack — Sept 11, C-4 Mefford, Scott — Sept 11, C-1, C-2, C-4, CR-2, Training, Trucks Meneses, Josh — C-3, C-4, IR-1 Mexican Drug Cartel — Trucks Microsoft — C-4 Mile High City — Sept 11, Early Moanfeldt, Samuel — Early Mobley, Mark — Way Monument Fire — Future Moose Fire — Wildland Mosquito Fire — Wildland Mother Cabrini Shrine — IR-5, Training Mountain Area Fire Academy — C-4 Mountain Area Planning Council — Early Mountain Christian Fellowship — C-1 Mt. Vernon Country Club — C-2 Mt. Vernon Fire Protection District — Trucks Myers, Jackie — Way

N Nakatomi Tower — Early National Fire Academy — Training National Fire Protection Association — Fabric, Wildland National Museum of American History — Fabric National Public Radio — Fabric National Volunteer Fire Council — Fabric Neely, Jerry — C-1, Way Neely, Judy — C-1 New York Police Department — Early Newark Airport — Sept 11 Newport Fire Department (Oregon) — Sept 11 Nobel, Linda — Way Nomex — Wildland North Fork Fire Rescue — Future

241

O O’Brien, Hank — C-1, C-4, CR-2 Olsen, David — C-4 Olson, Jim — C-3 Ordway Volunteer Fire Department — Wildland Over, Michele — Way Oxley House (Homestead) — Early, IR-5, Trucks

P Page, Lisa — C-4 Pantaleo, Matt — C-4 Park Hill United Methodist Church — C-4 Peace Corps — C-1 Peery, Max — Trucks Peery, Sam — Trucks Peri, David — Early Petro, Adam — C-1, C-3 Pfaff, David — Way Pfeifer, Joseph — Sept 11 Pfeifer, Kevin — Sept 11 Pierce, Sharon — Way Pierce Manufacturing — Trucks Pine, Lisa — C-1 Pine Brook Hills Fire Department — CR-2 Pipeline Fire — Wildland Plectron — IR-3 Plumsted, William — Fabric Poland, Diane — IR-3 Poland, Lori — IR-3 Poland, Richard — IR-3 Popovich,William C. — Marshall Powell Jr., Samuel — Fabric Pray, George — C-1, Way Prescott Fire Department — Wildland Pueblo Interagency Dispatch Center — Wildland Puffett, Emily — C-4 Puffett, Jason — C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4, Future, Marshall, Training, Wildland

Q Quaife, Charlene “Char” (Smith) — C-2, Way Quaife, Rick — C-2 Qwest Tower — Early

R Raize, Charlotte — C-2 Raize, George — C-2 242

Ramey, Alisa — C-2 Rancho Tranquilo — Early Red Card — Training Red Rocks Amphitheater — Early Richie Fox Farm — Early Rickman, Alan — Early Rippey, Arthur G. — Early Roberts, Hugh — Fabric Rockland Community Church — C-3 Rogers, Curt — Future Rogers, Shannon — C-3 Rogerson, Peter — C-2, Training Romer, Governor Roy — IR-3 Roosevelt, President Franklin D. — Earlh Rose, Jane — Way Rose Medical Center — Sept 11 Rossback, Dave — Training Rumsey, James L. — C-1, C-2, Way Rumsey, Robert — C-1

S S&S Fire Apparatus — Trucks Salmon-Challis National Forest — Wildland Samsonite — C-3 Samuelson, Mark — C-3 Schaeffler, Wilhelm — Early Schmitz, Jim — CR-2, CR-3 Schuler, Denny — C-1, C-2, Training, Way Schuler, Lorraine — C-2 Schulthess, Angela — Training Schumacher, Sandy — C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4, Training, Way Schwartz, John — Wildland Sculptured House — Future Sellmeyer, Carolyn — Way Seward, Donna — C-4 Seward, Dr. Frederick W. — CR-2 Seward, John A. — C-3, C-4, CR-2, Fabric, Trucks, Seward, John T. — CR-2 Shannon, Judge Daniel — Early Sheehan, Gregg — CR-2, Trucks Shippen, Edward — Fabric Sholes, Barb — C-2, Way Shroyer, Pearl — C-3 Shroyer, Wayne E. — C-3 Shuler, Russ — Way Sirbin, Aaron — C-2, C-3, C-4, Training, Way Sirbin, Jane — Training Sleeper (Movie) — Future Sleeper House — Future 243

Smaldone, Mary — C-1 Smith, Kevin — Way Smith, Steven Rathgeb — Fabric Snieder, Roel — C-3, C-4, Fabric, Training Solano, Joan — C-3, Training Solano, Matt — C-2, C-3, C-4, Training South Metro Fire Rescue — Marshall, Training Sparks, Mike — C-4 Speer, Robert W. — Early St. Anthony Hospital — IR-3 Stajcar, Dave — C-4 Stajcar, Pati — C-4 Stapleton, Mayor Benjamin F. — C-3 Stuart, Ben — C-4 Super Target — Marshall Swartz, Crawford O. — Early Syng, Philip — Fabric

T Tade, Robert — C-2, Training Taggart, Michael — C-4 Tammen, Agnes — Early Tammen, Harry — Early Tasker, Jeff — Marshall The Flying Norseman (Book) — Early The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook — Fabric The Snowberry Mafia — Fabric Thiret, Robert Paul — IR-3 Thornton Fire Department — C-2, Training Tocqueville, Alexis de — Fabric Topper, Bill — Way Torbit, Jeremiah — C-4 Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District — Future Troutman, Bob — C-1, C-2, Way Troutman, Maudie — C-2 Turner, Joseph — Fabric Turner, Terry — C-3

U U.S. Army — C-4 U.S. Bureau of Mines — Early U.S. Census Bureau — Fabric U.S. Coast Guard — Training U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) — Future, Wildland U.S. Forest Service — Wildland U.S. Geological Survey — C-2, Early U.S. Marines — C-3, Fabric U.S. Naval Academy — Early 244

U.S. Navy — C-3, C-4 U.S. Postal Service — C-3 Unimogs — Trucks Union Fire Company — C-3, Fabric Union Security — Way United Flight 175 — Sept 11 University of Denver — C-3, Early University of Minnesota — C-4 University of Oregon — Fabric University of Pennsylvania — Fabric USS Schenectady LST 1185 — C-4

V Vail, Janice — C-2 Van Woensel, Irene — Way, Training Villa, Mark — Sept 11, C-4, CR-2, CR-3

W Wahl, Dean — C-2 Wake, John — C-1, Way Waldo Canyon Fire — Wildland Wallerstein, Ralph — C-2 Walls, Carlotta — C-4 Walls, Cartelyou — C-4 Walls, Juanita — C-4 Warner, Graeme — CR-2, CR-3 Warner, Kathryn — CR-2, CR-3 Wenzel, Janet — C-1, Way West Metro Fire Rescue — C-2, Trucks Westergaard, Ed — Way Whitten, Fred — C-4 Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) — Wildland Wilkinson, Dennis — Way Willis, Bruce — Early Wright, Charles Washington — Fabric

Y Yosha, Cathy — Way

Z Zachary, Lloyd — Fabric Zoril, Chuck — Training

245

Genesee Fire Rescue Squad — October 2022 Front Row: Ryan Babcock Kris Kleiner Dan Natan Alex Witkowicz

Standing L to R: Dan Hammock Peter Greenstone John Seward Kathy Warner Keith Dierking Graeme Warner Jim Schmitz Brian Davis Branch Russell Gregg Sheehan Justin Shannonhouse 248

Neil Frame Hank O’Brien Ryan Gaddis Bob Dalton Josh Boyles Dorie Dalton John Meany Susan Eagle Jerimiah Torbit Mark Herzfeld Scott Mefford Paul Benson Dave Olsen Mark Villa Mary Meath Teresa Crane Kim Marklund Joe Auster Nancy Balter

Missing: Jason Puffett Doug Barenburg Josh Meneses Matt Pantaleo Dave Geralds Steve Masztaler Adrian Castro Clare Geiselman John Cummins Scott Schroeder JP Brewer Patti Harris

ABOUT THE BOOK Dedication and Service masterfully tells the story of Genesee Fire Rescue, a remarkable volunteer company located in the foothills west of Denver. Through perpetual training, outstanding leadership, and steadfast devotion to community service, the Genesee fire force has earned its place among the top volunteer departments in the state. This book is an inspiring testament to the enduring spirit of American volunteerism, a beacon that continues to shine in towns and cities nationwide, often with little fanfare. For half a century, the men and women of Genesee Fire Rescue have confronted perilous situations, combating wildfires, extinguishing home and commercial blazes, aiding and evacuating residents who become ill, and attending some of the worst imaginable motor vehicle accidents, all while placing themselves in life-threatening situations. For their efforts, the volunteers have won the immeasurable gratitude of those they serve and the priceless satisfaction of knowing that what they give of themselves genuinely matters. Dedication and Service is a poignant celebration of the heroes next door, those ordinary yet extraordinary individuals who show up for neighbors and strangers in their times of need, From the Foreword by John Bales President, Colorado Fallen Firefighters Foundation DEAN ROTBART is an award-winning former reporter and columnist with The Wall Street Journal, which nominated him for the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting. His 2021 book, September Twelfth: An American Comeback Story, was awarded the Gold Medal by the Nonfiction Authors Association. A Colorado native, Rotbart lives in Denver with his wife, Talya, a children’s book author. HANK O’BRIEN is a husband, father, grandfather, and volunteer Lieutenant/ EMT with Genesee Fire Rescue. He resides in Genesee, Colorado, with his wife of 40 years, Carol, an architect. $50.00 ISBN 978-1-956928-02-0

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