Welcome to The Steamboat Springs Fire Department

by Kristen Shew, Steamboat Pilot staff

Where is Willard Scott when you need him?

The well-known weatherman, famous for wishing "Happy 100th Birthday" will miss one centenarian this year: the Steamboat Springs Fire Department.

The department began in November 1897 after a group of local men got together and decided an organized group ought to be formed to protect the growing town from fire. The group called themselves the Steamboat Volunteer Fire Department.

The names of the first volunteers reads like a list of founding fathers: Leckenby, Metcalf, Wilcox, Hartwick, Harding, Breekel, Adair, Dunfield, Baer and Whipple. W.J. Breekel was elected chief and Ben Hartwick was elected assistant chief with J.E. Harding the secretary.

The Steamboat Volunteer Fire Department decided to hold a "Fireman's Ball," to raise money to buy the town's first fire equipment. The ball was held Nov. 26 1897 in the city hall. It raised $25, said current fire fighter Terry Wattles, who has been researching the history of the department. With the $25 burning a hole in their pockets, the fire department bought two Babcock chemical fire extinguishers.

"That wouldn't hardly buy two pairs of gloves these days," Wattles said.

The department started small with a limited amount of equipment -- extension ladders and roof ladders which were placed at both ends of town. The volunteers had to ask local businesses to help them buy hand grenades, the explosions from which helped blow out fires. A fire alarm bell was placed outside the library to alert townspeople to an emergency.

The bell is gone, but the Steamboat Springs Fire Department still relies on volunteers to fight its fires. Of course, the equipment and techniques have changed over 100 years. Where there were once small extension ladders and hand grenades, there are now 75-foot extension ladders and tanker trucks.

Wattles, who has been a volunteer for 21 years, said even during his time with the department things have become more sophisticated.

"We've progressed," Wattles said. "We require a lot more additional training and a lot more diverse training."

Two fires stick out in former volunteer fire chief Delmar Coyner's mind. One was a fire at the Bill Rorax home one winter when it hit 30 degrees below zero, and the other was a blaze at Ski Time Square Condominiums.

The fire department had to drag the hoses behind the trucks back to the department after the Rorax fire because they had frozen solid and would not roll up.

The Ski Time Square fire burned a whole section of the condominiums before it was stopped.

"Neither one was very pleasant," Coyner said. It was in the late 70s or early 80s, and the department only had eight or ten volunteers and lacked the equipment needed to adequately handle fires, he said.

"We just didn't have equipment enough at the time," Coyner said.

The department now has 24 volunteer fire fighters and several paid administrators. Last year, fire fighters answered more than 400 calls for service, up more than 50 in 1995, current assistant fire chief Bob Struble said. There may come a day when it is no longer adequate to have a volunteer fire department, but Struble says the department is holding its own right now.

"It means a lot to all the members to be a part of the 100 year birthday of the department," Struble said.

"It means quite a bit to me (to have been a part of the department)," Coyner said. "I've always been one to think each person should put in some community service."

Department Celebrates 100 Years