Staff Reports

Photo of academy recruits during an academy burn training

Calls for Service Analysis

As of the report date, we are on call #428 for the year. We are currently averaging 4.28 calls per day with an annual pace of 1562.

ELCO Fire Chiefs

The County Fire Chiefs have been focused on the new WUI code and planning for a meeting with the Commissioners at their April meeting. We plan to discuss a few items regarding the relationship between the County and Fire Districts. We are hoping to increase communications and streamline some of the processes for code adoption and development regulations. I haven’t heard much progress in the Chief search for Kiowa Fire. We are watching this process intently as it could impact our operations significantly.

Community Leaders and Area Managers (CLAMS)

So many of the CLAMS members are unavailable due to internal issues so I have stopped focusing on scheduling for this meeting. If it picks up, I will start reporting on it again, but for now it remains inactive.

Public Sector Healthcare Group Authority

I have been working to ease the transition of leadership for this group in May. Effective May 1st, I will step down as the president of the group but will remain on the Executive Committee to provide guidance to the new leader. Lindsay Wiley from Montrose Fire will be taking over my position, and I believe she will do a great job. Stepping down after 17 years is a big step for the group, but it will give me more time to focus on our succession plan internally.

Succession Planning

We have made the appropriate informal announcements regarding the 2026 hiring processes and are working with staff and legal to prepare a timeline for the upcoming changes in staffing. One of our biggest focus points is finding a capable replacement for Taylor’s position. We plan to start that process soon to make sure we choose the right position for that very important job.

Legislation

I have been too busy to focus on legislation but there aren’t too many bills that directly impact fire districts so far. We do know that the State of Colorado is in a rough spot financially and we could see some financial impacts from their issues such as wildland support and Medicaid GEMTS funding.

Grant Funding

The Congressional Community Project Funding Grant has been quickly denied. I’m not surprised as they are focusing on water infrastructure issues.

We were also denied the Firefighter Safety and Disease grant through DFPC. The grant was well written, but we have been funded before, which lowers our chances. This grant was for an extractor replacement. The good news is that many of our staff members are developing new skills in grant writing.

The SAFER grant is substantially complete and will be submitted on the first day that it opens. This grant is for 3 additional FTEs. In June 2014, a woman in the West Midlands, UK, called the 999 emergency line to complain that her ice cream didn’t have enough sprinkles.

The CO EMTS grant for part-time funding is looking promising. We as a team were available to the review committee for questions but they didn’t have many. That is usually a good sign, but we will see.

The El Pomar grant for wildland equipment has been submitted and we are awaiting feedback on that grant.

I also applied for a $2,000,000 grant through the Commonwealth fund that will benefit the Healthcare Group, which indirectly benefits the district. I haven’t heard back on this one yet.

Fire Prevention Bureau Updates

• Colorado Wildfire Resilience Code Update: The Town of Elizabeth is hearing the 2nd reading the CWRC at their April meeting. I have heard from Elbert County, and they may look to adopt the code. There was a bill HB-1334 that would extend the deadline to adopt the code but it died at the house on 4/7/26. I believe Elbert County was waiting to see if that bill was going to pass or not.
• Letters went out the landowners on Palomino and Elbert County basically stating that we may not be able to access their homes based on maintenance issues with the vacation of the easements.
• Update on the CSFS FRWRM Grant: A total of 15 properties treated so far and two HOA common areas with a total of 60.60 acres of treatment completed. We have around 71.48 acres currently in the “planned” phase if we are optimistic, which I am! This would bring us to a total of 132.08 acres towards our final 333.00 acre goal once those are completed.

Fire Prevention (Fire Prevention Specialist Ryan Seng)

Ryan is out on paternity leave until the end of the month. Congratulations on your new baby, Ryan!

ECCA

ECCA has been meeting regularly, and they will be charging non-emergency response agencies a charge to maintain their radios as a way of recouping costs. This would include the schools, OEM, Road and Bridge, and the Coroner.

Information Technology

Admin is still working on an intranet for our staff. This webpage will have documents, training, staff information, and upcoming events to keep our staff informed about Elizabeth Fire. We should be releasing that this month with training to our staff at the May staff meeting.

Photo of the “EFPD Employee Hub,“ the SharePoint site being created to help share information with staff internally

RMS Updates

We are currently performing Fire and EMS reporting and all scheduling in the First Due software. The next modules to go online will be Permits, Inspections, and Events & Activities.

Photo of First Due logo

New Development

Pine Ridge Apartments should be finishing with their 3rd building over the next few months and will have occupancy. The last building is in the construction phase and should be done by the end of the summer.

Pre-Application Meetings

Photo of Pre-Application Meetings

Photos of crews reading to the preschool

All divisions continue to be very busy with their new job assignments. It’s been great to see new eyes looking at the different divisions and expanding on them with a fresh perspective and new ideas.

I have been working closely with Chief Mackall on the operational side of things. We have been heavily involved with both mapping issues that have popped up, and we have a new quadrant being created so we can create better responses from mutual aid agencies in our district. One of the benefits we should see with this new quadrant is the ability to include agencies from our south and west in more of our response plans in the southern end of our district. I am hoping that this helps balance our call loads with them a bit.

A date is being finalized for training with all our Battalion Chiefs, dispatch, and several Elbert County Fire Chiefs on programming in the CAD system. I will attend this training with them and can hopefully provide input to the Chiefs of how adopting response plans instead of just station pages can benefit all our agencies.

We have a new Water Operations SOP that has been distributed, and I believe the Communications SOP will be approved soon. I continue to work with our mutual aid partners to create a consistent MAYDAY protocol that all agencies are using. This is a much-needed improvement for our firefighters and needs to be completed soon.

Lastly, we continue working on the First Due integration. That is taking a lot of time from everyone, but it is important we get the proper data inputted so it works for us in the future. There are a couple of modules coming up that I am excited to see.

Training Division (Battalion Chief Brenden Regan)

• The academy continues to make strong progress and is already one-quarter complete. Recruits and instructors have been putting in a lot of effort, and the results are showing.
• A new technical rescue device, the SKED, has been added to our toolbox. All three shifts have training with the new equipment. The SKED will be placed into service on the battalion within the next few weeks.
• Work is also underway to develop the Training section for First Due. This section will soon begin taking over Target Solutions. More updates will be shared as this progresses.
• Firefighter Caitlin McGhee is attending the Fire on the Plains Conference, which offers a variety of high-quality, affordable training opportunities. We look forward to the knowledge and insights she will bring back to share with the team.
• STO Sheikh recently hosted a DO/U practical, providing several members with the opportunity to increase their certification level.
• The Water Operations Group continues to make great strides, with its fifth member nearly cleared. In addition, improvements to the tenders have been completed. Backup cameras are now installed on all tenders, and Tender 271 has been upgraded with LED headlights.
• A big thank you to the Water Ops Group for their continued hard work and input.

EMS Division (Battalion Chief Nick Carnesi)

• We are scheduled to begin the ePCR module with First Due on April 8th. We have an optimization meeting on April 7th and should have everything ready to go on the 8th. ETO Johnson has done a great job helping build the module and will have all shifts trained by April 3rd. Thank you, ETO Johnson!
• We had our second EMTS grant review on April 2nd. This is my first attempt at this grant, but Chief Mackall is the EMTS grant expert, and he thinks that the review went well. We should know if we are awarded in early May.
• Our annual ambulance inspection process begins on April 7th. After our LIFEPAK monitors are serviced on the 7th, we will move on to the remainder of the process.
• Dr. Dart came to Station 271 on April 7th to have a meeting with our paramedics. He was able to answer a lot of questions, and we had a great discussion with him. We hope to schedule him to come out more often throughout the year.
• ETO Johnson and I are looking at adding the "BLS Attend Task Book" to the medic driver task book. This will provide more defined expectations for our BLS providers, as well as give our paramedics more consistent EMTs. I'll present this to the Command Staff next time we meet.
• We also need to dive into new DEA regulations that deal with locking our ambulances to secure our narcotics. I believe we are already following the regulations; I just need to dig a little deeper and confirm. We may have to create a policy directive; I should have a final decision in next month's report.

EMS Calls (excluding "no patient"):

• Mar 2025 = 58 (39 Transports / 67%)
• Mar 2026 = 83 (65 Transports / 78%)

Operations Division (Battalion Chief Sean Mackall)

• After a rough couple of months of apparatus repairs, they have been performing well, which is allowing us to fix some of the smaller maintenance tickets that have been on hold for a while, so that's good news! I greatly appreciate the patience and understanding from the crews having to swap in and out of different apparatus on a regular basis!
• All three Stryker Auto-Load systems have been installed and are in service. Thanks to Chief Regan for getting that done; the crews are happy! As a reminder, this equipment was purchased with EMTS grant assistance, and, now that the project is complete, we can submit for the 50% reimbursement.
• Chief Brown and I are working with Douglas Dispatch on some routing issues where a section of Delbert Rd through the Independence development somehow made it into CAD but doesn't actually exist yet. We believe this has been corrected and will continue to evaluate/monitor as more calls in that area come through.
• First Due implementation is taking a lot of time but we're getting there. We started using the Scheduling module April 1st, with the next big rollouts being ePCR, Asset Management, and Inspections.
• The new Silverado 2500 is in service as Battalion 271 and has the plow mount installed (not that we've needed it…). It's a very nice truck and should serve us well for a long time!

Photos of academy recruits during extinguisher training, a burn night, and extrication training

Our budget performance for March remains strong and is progressing exactly as planned. At this point in the year, total expenses account for approximately 25% of the annual budget, which aligns well with our projected spending schedule. This indicates that expenditures are being effectively managed and remain within expected limits for the first quarter.

Property tax revenues are also performing as anticipated. We received the first significant tax payment of the year in March, which corresponds with the established tax due dates for residents. This timing and amount confirm that collections are tracking closely with projections and provide an important early boost to annual revenue. With this tax payment, I was able to invest $1M into a term investment for a better return.

In addition, Transport Fee collections showed notable improvement in March, totaling $62,992.11 for the month. By comparison, during 2025, we averaged approximately $41,800 per month in Transport Fees. This increase represents a substantial gain over last year’s monthly average and reflects continued positive growth in this revenue source. Overall, this improvement strengthens our financial position and supports continued confidence in our revenue trends for the remainder of the year.

Development and Impact Fees:

• Zone 1 $547,822.82
• Zone 2 $19,183.15
• Zone 3 $18,416.05
• Gift Agreement $343,209.10
• Infrastructure Fund $118,280.00

Photo of crews training with the twin tension system and the new SKED

The Reserve Program is still very much alive and kicking. All 5 of our applicants from last month’s interviews scored well on their ride-alongs and have been offered Reserve volunteer positions with the District. Chief Mackall and I will run an orientation for them on April 17th.

The last set of interviews was held on February 12th, and we have continued to see a regular influx of applications since then. As I mentioned last month, we worked on re-establishing the necessary requirements for our Reserve positions, which has made the selection process for which applicants move to an interview much easier. I have scheduled 6 interviews to be conducted on April 16th. As always, a big thank you to the Membership Committee for their help on getting these interviews done.

There is not much to report on the EMT program with the school district this month. I just got in touch again with Andrew Ponn from the Elizabeth High School regarding a list of materials needed by the school to successfully run the program. I am hoping to get with him on some of the specific class and curriculum requirements (i.e. extrication days, ride-alongs) to work out what it would look like for the District to partner with them on a practical basis once the program is in place.

Speaking of the schools and our Reserve Program, we have an exciting opportunity to promote the very same program at the upcoming Elizabeth High School College and Career Fair. Elizabeth Fire will have a booth at this event, and I have designed, ordered, and received some new flyers on the Reserve Program that I’m hoping to pass out to students interested in a firefighting career after they graduate. I am hoping this will be a great way to snag some of our high school juniors and seniors. In addition, since the fair will be held on a B-Shift day, I’m hoping to have our engine crew down with us after their morning trainings to promote the Public Safety Academy, which will be led by Lt. McGhee and take place in May. Having her there to help promote the PSA will be another great way to get the attention of some of our younger students, who aren’t yet old enough to volunteer as Reserves but are still interested in firefighting as a future career.

On March 25th and 26th, we were able to have both our FPPA and NPPFA representatives out at the station. This was an awesome opportunity for our crews to discuss their balances and accounts face-to-face with our reps, and, since we have some newer employees who hadn’t yet had the chance to set up their accounts, it was a great time to introduce them to what these accounts look like.

The District currently has 2 full-time members and 1 part-time member out on medical leave. We had 2 Reserve volunteers leave us last month.

Both SharePoint sites for our staff - the “Employee Hub” and the “Employee Benefits” - are making progress, slowly but surely. Brooklyn has been doing a great job building the Hub site, and we are hoping to have it go live shortly. Chief Gerczynski and I figured out how to link the SharePoint sites to our department Teams accounts, which will make it easy for our crews to access department information and news from their phones. This is all part of the greater project to make it easy for our crews to communicate with one another on work-related items using work accounts, as well as making it easier for Command and Admin staff to push out information.

"We would like to thank the firefighters for their quick response and professionalism at the fire on Mobile St. You are the heroes of our community. Thank you so much."

"Shoutout to Roger Boone and Mike Bilbo for putting in many extra hours to help our probationary Water Ops members get signed off on their taskbooks."

"I wanted to follow up and sincerely thank you for the opportunity to participate in the ride along with Station 271 this past weekend. I truly appreciated the chance to see firsthand what it takes to be a part of Elizabeth Fire, and was able to see cadets during their training sessions. The crew was nothing short of amazing, supportive, knowledgeable, and welcoming throughout the entire experience. It made a strong impression on me and further confirmed my interest in pursuing this path. I am very excited about the possibility of joining the Reserve Program and serving the Elizabeth community. Thank you again for the opportunity, and I look forward to future opportunities to be involved."

"Shoutout to Lt. Holt for offering to fix a damaged roof ladder on his own time, saving the department around $1,200 for a replacement. Thanks, Casey!"

"Shoutout to Lt. Tyler for taking the time to put together an awesome video promoting the Public Safety Academy on social media."

Last year’s Firefighter Fridays were very well received by our District on Elizabeth Fire’s social media platforms. This year, we are highlighting the District’s rich history through “Flashback Friday” and the current apparatus and vehicles of the District in “Truck Tuesday.” In March, we posted one Flashback Friday and one Truck Tuesday:

Photo of March's Flashback Friday post

Photo of March's Truck Tuesday post