About Us
Chaffee County Fire Protection District's (CCFPD) predominately volunteer force is responsible for the efficient mitigation of emergencies and delivering service to the community within the 1,000 sq mile Fire District, including the Towns of Poncha Springs and Buena Vista. CCFPD has 35 pieces of mobile equipment/apparatus allocated between 6 fire stations that are professionally staffed by 40+ volunteer firefighters and 9 paid firefighters.
CCFPD has auto and mutual aid agreements with neighboring fire districts/departments allowing CCFPD to provide and receive additional aid on major incidents. Commonly these agreements are used for structure fires, wild land fires, and major motor vehicle accidents.
Fire Suppression
Fire, when controlled properly, can be a very useful tool in providing heat, cooking, mitigation, or other uses. However, when fire gets out if control it becomes extremely dangerous and threatening to society. Chaffee County Fire responds to a variety of fire related incidents. There are many factors involved in extinguishing any given fire such as the type of fire, the extent of the fire, and what is actually on fire.
Common types of fires:
- Structure fire: A fire within any sort of man-made structure or building
- Wildland Fire: A fire in any open field, forest, or combination thereof
- Dumpster (or trash) fire: A fire within a trash receptacle or gathering of trash
- Kitchen fire: A fire started from cooking efforts that is fueled by the cooking process (such as grease)
- Bon fire: Typically a large pile of combustible products set on fire
- Pit fire: Commonly a small fire set in an outdoor fireplace
- Flammable liquids fire: A fire that is fueled by a substance such as gasoline, etc.
Motor Vehicle Accidents:
With the mountainous roads and ever changing road conditions motor vehicle accidents make up a majority of the calls for service. For response to motor vehicle accidents CCFPD has two medium rescue units equipped with extrication equipment (jaws of life), stabilization, lighting, and rope rescue equipment. The rescue units are housed at Stations 3 and 4. Additionally, Stations 1, 2, and 5 have extrication equipment on the fire engines for response.
Common causes of motor vehicle accidents:
- Driving inappropriately for conditions
- Distracted driving (texting, talking on phone, adjusting radio, etc.)
- Wildlife in roadway
Hazardous Materials:
CCFPD responds to various reports of hazardous conditions, from chemical spills to carbon monoxide alarms to odor investigations. Many CCFPD personnel are trained to the Hazardous Materials Operations level with two (2) Hazardous Materials Technicians, which means we can recognize and contain most materials that are encountered. CCFPD has two Hazardous Materials response trailers equipped with supplies to control and contain most hazardous materials incidents. For hazardous materials incidents beyond our capabilities CCFPD relies on resources from the South Central Hazmat Region who have additional training and specialized equipment.
Specialty Incidents:
Occasionally CCFPD responds to specialty incidents that are unique and infrequent. These types of incidents include mass casualty incidents, technical rescue, Swift water rescue, aircraft emergencies, law enforcement standby, bomb scares, etc. While CCFPD is trained in the basics to assist on these types of incidents, we often request mutual aid from resources that specialize in these responses.
Service Calls:
CCFPD responds to a number of service calls each year. These calls range from changing batteries in smoke detectors to flooding to animal situations. Often CCFPD is able to resolve the problem prior to the situation getting worse and/or refer the situation to the proper resources who can fix the issue. Such as contacting Colorado Parks and Wildland on animal related issues.
Public Education:
CCFPD is happy to provide a wide variety of safety and public education classes. These topics include fire safety, using fire extinguishers, wildfire mitigation, etc. Please see our Public Education Page for more details.
Wildland Deployment:
In addition to in Fire District and Mutual aid assistance CCFPD provides equipment and personnel to assist on major wildland fires in Colorado and throughout the Nation. Over the last few years CCFPD has sent brush trucks and tenders to fires in Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and California.