A foundation that serves Boulder County is providing $275,848 in grants to volunteer fire departments that lost equipment and a fire station in the Fourmile Canyon fire in early September.
“It will make a significant dent in our losses and one that I think will truly allow all four agencies to operate at levels that our communities expect and appreciate,” Four Mile Fire Department Chief Bret Gibson said of the Community Foundation grants.
The Four Mile Fire Department lost a station and the truck that was parked inside when the fire roared through rural neighborhoods 6 miles west of Boulder. While insurance will pay to rebuild the station, the truck was insured for $120,000 — far less than the $350,000 to $450,000 price of replacing it.
Two Gold Hill Fire Department trucks were damaged, and Sugarloaf Fire Department also lost some equipment, Gibson said.
But lost equipment isn’t the only problem left behind by the blaze that volunteer firefighters must deal with. The fire, which scorched 6,388 acres, destroyed 135 homes and damaged a dozen others. The departments are supported by tax revenue, and the lost homes have reduced their funding for years to come, Gibson said.
Up to 90 percent of the income used to operate the departments comes from property taxes. Seventy of the 425 homes within the Four Mile Fire Department’s district were lost, Gibson said. Sunshine Fire Department lost about 57 homes that accounted for about 40 percent of the department’s revenue.
Neighborhoods served by the Gold Hill and Sugarloaf fire departments lost fewer than 20 homes each, he said.
Besides the grants to fire departments, the Community Foundation’s Boulder Mountain Fire Relief Fund is giving more than $444,000 to individuals and families and $17,000 to community organizations.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
