Fire department marks 30 years of service

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Volunteer firefighters in Rist Canyon have come a long way from their days of battling blazes in jeans and tennis shoes, but some things haven't changed.

The Rist Canyon Volunteer Fire Department is still supported by donations rather than taxes. Over the years, however, the department has learned how to get state and federal grants and leverage its community spirit into a popular mountain festival and art auction to provide a dependable funding source.

A look at the department's scrapbook shows expenses of $3,513 in 1979. Income sources included $2,400 in donations from 105 families, $430 in government matching funds and $128 from a garage and bake sale. The biggest fund-raiser of the year was a jog-a-thon that collected $360. That year they purchased 14 fire-retardant shirts.

In comparison, the department's most recent annual treasurer's report showed expenses of $67,866 with income of $63,281 from the mountain festival and art auction alone.

The volunteers are still working hard to keep up the revenues, however. "We've grown to such a large department and cover such a large area," said treasurer Richard Lund.

Fire Chief Bob Gann said one goal is to continue replacing initial response trucks until all are no older than 10 years. There is one more to go, and that will cost about $170,000, he said.

On a rainy day in June, several of the original members of the department got together to reminisce about those early years.

The department officially organized at the urging of the Colorado State Forest Service, which saw an extreme fire hazard caused by the mountain pine beetle epidemic. It became very clear at the first community meeting that people favored a department as long as they weren't taxed, and the department has maintained its donation membership to this day.

In 1975, firefighters were called into action through a phone tree, a difficult task since Rist Canyon had eight-party telephone lines. When the phones went out, someone went around screaming at people. Twenty-three men and women comprised the first group of "hard-core firefighters."

"My husband insisted I be in it because I was home most of the time," Judy Bodenham said.

As expected, some canyon residents remained skeptical of the department's efforts in those early years. "After we saved a couple houses, it turned some attitudes around," commented Slim Somervell. At the time, no other department was obligated to fight structural fires in the Rist Canyon and Stove Prairie area. The county sheriff's office had jurisdiction of wildland fires only.

Christina Andre noted that the band of firefighters took their training and responsibility seriously. "Nobody wants to give you money to go to a meeting and have a good time," she said.

The women also were breaking ground in the world of firefighters. Most other rural departments were a guys-only club. "We had to ignore the good old boys in other agencies," Andre said.

Chuck Andre recalled that the volunteers built their first fire station out of block so it wouldn't burn down. "That would have been kind of embarrassing," he joked.

The department's mountain festivals date back to 1980. All of the food was donated and homemade. "If the festival made $2,000, we were doing good," Bodenham said.

The old-timers also credited the entrepreneurial spirit of Jon Stephens for turning around the department's fund-raising efforts. "Jon said the money needs to come from outside," Andre remarked, and that led to combining the community's enthusiasm with the influence of artist Richard Schmid to launch the department's successful art auction.

Even with more outside income, the department still relies on donations from the community it serves. "If we put somebody's fire out, we don't hesitate to remind them that we are donation based," said board president Wes Rutt.