February 12, 2025
Boulder County Approves $1.3 Million in Emergency Services Grants for Local Fire Protection Agencies
Grants will provide funding for lifesaving medical equipment, emergency vehicles, fire station improvements, upgraded radios and communications, personal protective equipment for firefighters and emergency personnel, and supplies for first responders and community safety.
For general queries or to receive this message in another language, please email Barb Halpin.
Boulder County, Colo. – The Boulder County Commissioners, with support from the Boulder County Sheriff, have approved $1,301,726 in awards for the 2024 Fall Fire Protection District Grant Round. Funding for the grants is provided by the Emergency Services Sales & Use Tax, a ballot measure passed by voters in 2022 as County Issue "1B."
Proceeds from the tax help pay for essential capital and equipment needs for emergency service providers in Boulder County. The fall grant round was offered to mountain and rural fire protection districts (FPDs) that provide firefighting and emergency services in Boulder County. A second round of grants will be offered this spring to search and rescue organizations in Boulder County.
“For the second year in a row, we are pleased to be able to support critical, local fire and rescue services by affirming a community-based advisory group’s recommendations for the grant awards,” said Boulder County Commissioner Marta Loachamin. “Using dedicated funds approved by the generous voters of Boulder County, the Emergency Services Sales Tax helps provide tangible equipment, supplies, and capital assets to fire districts with specific needs that might otherwise go unmet due to limited budgets and competing demands for funding.”
Recommendations for the fall grant round were put forward by the Emergency Services Grant Program Advisory Committee (ESGPAC), a volunteer group of county residents with experience, expertise, and interest in emergency response and activities that make living and recreating in Boulder County safer for everyone.
Twice a year, ESGPAC reviews grant applications from organizations that provide firefighting, search and rescue, trail safety, and emergency medical services in Boulder County. The committee then makes allocation recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners for the grant portion of the emergency services sales tax.
The 13 awards approved in this round will help pay for lifesaving medical equipment, personal protective equipment for firefighters and emergency personnel, capital improvements for aging fire stations, new emergency and firefighting vehicles, upgraded radios and communications, and other critical supplies to enhance first responder and community safety.
More information is available on the Emergency Services Grant Program webpage.
Gold Hill Fire Station's bay door is too narrow for its fire engine to fit inside. The fire protection district's grant for capital improvements will help widen the bay door and allow the agency's equipment to be stored inside.
Approved Fall 2024 Fire Protection District Grants
Total of 13 Proposals – $1,301,726
1) Boulder County Firefighters Association
County Physician Advisor & Handtevy EMS Training Platform - $49,588
Fund the Physician Advisor position for all unincorporated Boulder County fire districts– and the Handtevy EMS platform (mobile training system) for 12 rural fire agencies–for one year. Handtevy is the premier EMS training/delivery platform that emergency responders use to administer on-scene life support or medical treatment.
2) Boulder Fire Rescue
Technical Rescue Equipment - $68,990
Purchase technical equipment and related accessories to respond to structural collapse incidents and other technical rescues. There is currently a lack of this equipment within and directly around Boulder Fire's response area. The equipment would be made available to any Boulder County fire or rescue agency for use.
3) Boulder Rural Fire Protection District
Cyclist/Pedestrian Extrication (Rescue) Equipment - $16,063
Procure cyclist/pedestrian extrication (rescue) equipment to remove vehicles (i.e., lift cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, etc.) quickly and effectively off entrapped cyclists and pedestrians. Boulder Rural is often the first/closest agency to respond to life-threatening vehicle, train, and cyclist accidents along SH 119 ("The Diagonal") between Boulder and Longmont.
4 Four Mile Fire Protection District
PPE Replacement - $93,145
Replace outdated structure fire and wildland fire personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure responder safety during emergency calls for service and training opportunities. Purchase non-PFAS PPE to enhance responder safety and meet upcoming federal mandates requiring the use of PFAS-free PPE ensembles.
5) Gold Hill Fire Protection District
Emergency Services Improvements - $150,659
Improve Gold Hill's emergency response capabilities through the acquisition of a specialized wildland/rescue vehicle and fire station infrastructure improvements. Station improvements include the addition of an emergency generator, associated electrical upgrades, and widened bay door access for Gold Hill's fire trucks.
6) Hygiene Fire Protection District
Bunker Room Upgrades - $35,442
Equip Hygiene’s bunker room with a new commercial extractor, drying cabinet, gear storage, and other essentials. These upgrades will protect firefighter health, improve emergency response readiness, and ensure efficient, in-house gear maintenance, enhancing safety for both first responders and the Boulder County community.
7) Indian Peaks Fire Protection District
Mobile/Base Radio Upgrade & Emergency Responder Extrication Tools and Accessories - $155,100
Upgrade existing single-band, semi-obsolete Tk-790 mobile radios and base station to dual-band capable mobile radios for Indian Peak's fire and EMS vehicles. Purchase new battery-powered extrication equipment–specifically a spreader, cutter, ram, and other necessary accessories–to equip Indian Peaks with the ability to respond to vehicle and cyclist accidents along the Peak-to-Peak Highway and remote areas of Boulder County situated away from other responding agencies.
8) Jamestown Fire Department
Type 6 Brush Truck 4230 - $202,000
Purchase a new Type 6 Fire Engine--Brush Truck 4230--for the Jamestown Fire Department to respond to vehicle accidents, fires, medical calls, and other emergencies within the Jamestown Fire District. Equipment will also be used to respond to surrounding communities on mutual aid calls.
9) Lefthand Fire Protection District
Structure Fire PPE Request - $115,283
Purchase PFAS-free structural firefighting ensembles. PFAS are a class of chemicals that are known carcinogens found in current PPE as a component of the moisture barrier. This expense responds to upcoming NFPA mandates requiring the use of PFAS-free PPE ensembles.
10) Lyons Fire Protection District
EMS Equipment Grant - $108,500
Purchase Emergency Medical Services (EMS) equipment to allow for the safe and effective delivery of Advanced Life Saving (ALS) care to those in need. Specifically, one cardiac monitor, two mechanical CPR devices, one power load and stretcher system, and three video laryngoscopes. Lyons is one of three rural districts equipped to administer ALS services in Boulder County.
11) Mountain View Fire Protection District
Wildland UTV for Station 9 (Eldorado Springs) - $61,954
Purchase a new Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) to provide support on incidents in rugged terrain in south Boulder County. The UTV will allow Mountain View FPD first responders to safely and efficiently shuttle gear and personnel to hard-to-reach mountain areas and move injured or sick patients from trails and wilderness areas to roads where ambulances can transport them to local hospitals. Request also includes a portable water tank to facilitate fire suppression.
12) Nederland Fire Protection District
Mobile Radio Grant Request - $95,000
Replace mobile radios in all Nederland FPD apparatus. Nederland’s current radios are more than 20 years old (well beyond their end of life and fast approaching obsolescence). This request will provide for the purchase and installation of both UHF and 800 MHz radios in each district vehicle so that first responders can communicate on either radio, depending on the location and type of response.
13) Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District
Replace a Type 6 Wildland Engine - $150,000
Provide approximately half the purchase price towards replacing a 20+-year-old Type 6 wildland engine. This type of vehicle is the first line of defense against wildland fires. This project will improve the safety and effectiveness of Sugar Loaf's ability to respond quickly to all¬ hazard threats.
Concept of a utility terrain vehicle requested by Mountain View Fire Protection District. The UTV will be used to help with trail rescues, prescribed burn fire suppression, and road and driveway snow removal to help first responders reach homes of residents who require emergency medical response.
Evaluation Process
Boulder County received 14 proposals totaling $1,608,776 for the 2024 Fire Protection District grant round. The advisory committee created a process for evaluating the proposals and met twice in January 2025 to review and evaluate the applications. Both meetings were open to the public to attend and observe.
Before the two discussion meetings, each advisory committee member reviewed and scored the proposals on their own. The scores were shared in aggregate at the grant review meetings for comparison and evaluation purposes.
As part of the application process, applicants were asked to respond to questions to help determine whether a proposed project would:
- Fill a gap or need that would enhance an organization's effectiveness in emergency response;
- Enhance the efficiency of emergency response for a district or within the rural and mountain areas of unincorporated Boulder County;
- Demonstrate positive fiscal impact. Examples:
- The purchase of new equipment to replace aging assets that are a drain on a district, which, in turn, reduces maintenance costs;
- A grant award for needed equipment that would otherwise come out of the district’s limited budget, freeing up that funding in the budget for other district needs.
- Encourage replicability or collaboration across fire districts (not required, but helpful);
- Serve community members equitably;
- Provide a benefit for Boulder County residents.
On January 29, the committee voted to recommend 13 proposals totaling $1,301,726.23. The Board of County Commissioners approved all 13 awards at a public business meeting on February 11.
For additional information about the grant program, please contact Barb Halpin.
On-scene emergency responders use extrication equipment to free a person trapped in a vehicle. This type of equipment, requested by two local fire protection districts (Boulder Rural and Indian Peaks), can lift or move obstacles out of the way to help save lives when cyclists, pedestrians, or passengers are trapped within or under a vehicle.
