Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Interim Chaffee County Fire chief introduced; district outlines staffing, call volume and mutual-aid role
Summary
The county heard from Chaffee County Fire trustees who introduced interim Fire Chief Kira Jones and discussed staffing levels, call volume and wildfire-response capacity.
The board heard a public comment introduction of Chaffee County Fire’s interim chief, Kira Jones, who described the district’s service area, staffing and recent deployments.
Brent Spuhle, identified as a trustee on the Chaffee County Fire Protection District board, introduced Jones and said the board approved her appointment as interim chief. “She is an extremely qualified, talented, ambitious, young lady who has willfully taken the charge,” Spuhle said.
Interim Chief Kira Jones told the commissioners the district covers “over 990 square miles of the county,” and that in 2024 the district “responded in 2024 to 608 calls for service.” She said roughly “over 40% of those calls were for motor vehicle accidents,” reflecting heavy traffic on county highways. Jones said the district operates six (with plans for seven) fire stations, fields about 52 pieces of apparatus and has more than 40 volunteers supported by eight full-time staff. She described ongoing mutual-aid arrangements with neighboring departments and said six district members were deployed to support efforts on the Marshall Fire.
Jones also said the fire district operates with a comparatively low mill levy; the meeting transcript reported the current mill levy as roughly 3.96. She told commissioners the district plans for an assistant chief of operations in the 2025 budget to divide roles and improve service.
Commissioners thanked Jones and acknowledged the district’s deployment of staff to assist on out-of-county incidents.
