Colorado rural fire agencies facing critical firefighter shortages

ELIZABETH, Colo. — Local fire agencies are sounding the alarm about firefighter shortages in Colorado.

Elizabeth Fire Chief TJ Steck said their pool of firefighter applicants has dwindled in the past 10 years. Additionally, Steck not only struggles to find applicants, he struggles to retain them as well.

"The next five years are going to be a rough period," said Steck.

Around 50% of Elizabeth’s fire academy graduates received interest from metro fire districts. Steck said the small agency can't compete with the higher salary and call volume of larger stations. Aging populations in rural towns can discourage young recruits from staying.

It's an issue across the state of Colorado.

A 2023 state report from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control found that the state needs 1,085 career firefighters and around 1,300 volunteer firefighters to be adequately staffed.

Elizabeth's population increased 23 percent since 2010, meaning with limited resources, the clock is ticking.

Colorado rural fire agencies facing critical firefighter recruitment and retention problems

"Once the volunteer pool is gone, there isn't enough funding," said Steck. "There's not enough resources to handle the call load that's out here.”

Elizabeth Fire Rescue is currently assisting other smaller agencies in eastern Colorado. Agencies in Kiowa, Limon and Agate are all experiencing shortages.

Kiowa Fire Chief Gerry Lamansky said the department only has five paramedics and on any shift could be down to only two firefighters. Lamansky often asks for help from other stations in Elbert County, but they're already stretched thin.

“They have about 15 on duty right now for the entire 1800 square miles," said Lamansky. "If we wanted 15 firefighters on a house fire, we would empty the county for that and leaves the rest of the county pretty scarce.”

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Colorado firefighter needs over the next two years:

• 1,085 Career Firefighters.
• 1,300 Volunteer Firefighters.
• $40,794,000 In Funds.

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The age of emergency crews is also becoming a concern.

Although the help of older firefighters is appreciated, local stations say they're losing many crew members to retirement, or because they can't do the job anymore.

"Responders out there aren't getting any younger, but they're being forced to stay on into older ages because there's nobody to take over for them," said Steck.

Elizabeth Fire Rescue tried to get ahead of the problem six years ago, when they lowered their recruitment age from 21 to 18. Although the reduced age was somewhat successful, Steck said it's not enough.

"Let's stop trying to put band aids on this," said Steck. "Let's come up with a solution that can fix the problem as a whole.”

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