175 East 3rd Street
Palisade, CO 81526
P: (970) 464-
F: (970) 464-
Monday -
8:00am to 5:00pm
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Copyright © 2007 -
The Palisade Fire Department was first organized in 1907. A hook and ladder company was organized as a volunteer unit and on December 19, 1916 a more formal organization was formed with four officers and thirteen men. Frank Mars was the first fire chief and his assistant was R. F. Shaffer, Frank Harris and J. H. Mosier, respectively, were the first secretary and the first treasurer of the organization.
Other members of the first department included Floyd Heinley, Fred Bower, Frank Best, E. E. Redmon, J. E. Harris, A Woodrum, Jim Moreland, J. Reasover, W. Finley, Ed Klausterman, Otto Thyret and Frank Clark. Frank Clark became chief in 1923 and remained chief of the department until his death in May of 1959.
In 1923 Palisade was divided into four wards. The fire equipment consisted of two hose carts carrying 500 feet of 2 1/2” hose, and a ladder cart, all hand drawn. This equipment was housed near the old electric light plant just east of town and fire alarms were sounded from this point. The departments main firefighting equipment was pulled by men until 1937. That year Palisade purchased their first new fire engine from the Darley Company.
The early department embarked on the traditional method of raising funds and in January, 1917 it held the first benefit dance. During World War 1, many of the original members served in the armed services. The Colorado State Firemens Association was formed in 1916 and the Palisade Volunteer Fire Department was inducted into the association in 1919.
The Palisade Fire Department consisted of all volunteers until 1992 when the Town of Palisade determined that it needed a full time paid Chief to oversee the membership of the department. Chief Richard Rupp was a volunteer with the department and was offered the position. He still remains the Chief today.
After a time it was decided that the only way to provide the Town of Palisade with consistent advanced life support on the ambulances was to hire a full time paramedic to cover a daytime shift and act as the EMS coordinator for the department. Paramedic Mike Harvey was hired to fulfil this role.
In 2002 Mike left the Palisade Fire Department to take a full time position as Fire Chief for the Plateau Valley Fire Protection District. Paramedic Bill Binnian was hired to continue and improve upon the work started by Chief Harvey and he continues to do an excellent job for the department and the citizens of the Town of Palisade.
The Palisade Fire Department still has only two paid positions. The majority of the calls are handled by the volunteers. At the present time there are 23 active members, some of which who do not even live within the Palisade Fire Protection District. Utilizing volunteers from outside the area was one solution to the universal problem of the decline of volunteerism.
The volunteers work various shifts tailored to fit the diverse schedules of the members. In district volunteers are expected to work a regular shift. This consists of two duty days in a row and then four days off. The shift coverage is from 6 pm until 6 am and 24 hours on holidays and weekends.
Out of district volunteers have the option of working a “float” shift, or more specifically, one of six lettered shifts. Another option is to work one day shift a week from 8 am until 6 pm. This gives the volunteers quite a bit of flexibility to still be able to help the community as much as possible and also try to have time for other interests and family.
The Palisade Fire Department has occupied the same building for many decades and with the added responsibilities of technical rescues, ambulance services, fire protection, fire education and prevention, membership training and certification continuing education it is severely overcrowded and in need of a new station. An effort is underway by the Town of Palisade, the Fire Department and the Rural Fire Protection District to try and make the need a reality.
