One year after George Ditolla Sr. helped create a volunteer fire department to serve western Adams County with no money or equipment, George Ditolla Jr. was born.
“I pretty much started and saw from a very young age the activity of the fire department,” the younger Ditolla said.
At age 21, Ditolla followed his father’s footsteps and became a volunteer for Southwest Adams County Fire Rescue.
In the 45 years since then, Ditolla became the first paid chief, eventually turned the entire volunteer department into a funded fire district with 34 career firefighters, and added a crew of paramedics and two ambulances.
On Thursday, Ditolla, 66, handed over the reins and retired.
“In the old days, volunteers just did it out of the goodness of their heart,” he said. “They didn’t have all the good fancy equipment we have now, but they made it work.”
Greg Neal, the fire district’s board president, says the same about Ditolla’s drive to grow the department: “He made it work.”
“He obviously ran the fire department, in my opinion, as a true professional,” Neal said.
As Ditolla, whose father has passed away, steps away from the profession, he said he is proud his own son followed him into the career as well and is now a fire engineer in the Denver Fire Department.
In one final change for his department, which covers the area between 52nd and 92nd avenues and between Pecos Street and Sheridan Boulevard, Ditolla left arrangements for testing a merger with the neighboring North Washington Fire Protection District.
Their chief, Pat Laurienti, is now acting as interim chief for Southwest Adams County Fire Rescue.
The goal is to save money and to relocate stations.
“In the old days, they would build stations around where the volunteers were,” Ditolla said. “Now we want to have them around geographical areas where we need the most coverage.”
Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372, yrobles@denverpost.com or
