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Grand Junction Fire Department EMS History

On July 16, 1889, the City of Grand Junction (population 1,200) Fire Department was formed by 38 volunteer citizens who promptly elected B. K. Kennedy as the temporary Fire Chief. The group met on the first Friday of each month to transact business and practice firefighting techniques. Members who missed a meeting or who left a fire were fined one dollar for each infraction.The first piece of equipment, a hose cart, was pulled by firefighters to the fire. The hose was connected to a fire hydrant and taken to the fire where a nozzle was added and extinguishment was accomplished. Sam and Jack, two sturdy and very smart horses, were the first full-time employees of the Fire Department and they not only pulled the equipment but were also trained to automatically back under the rigging of the horse- drawn equipment at the sound of an alarm.

The Grand Junction Fire Department (GJFD) has responded on emergency medical Services calls (EMS) throughout its history, although we did not always do transports as our primary responsibility. In 1959, there were 870 total calls, 418 of which were rescue calls. In 1988, the number of EMS calls increased to 2,489, about 75% of the total call volume. In 2005, there were 6,508 EMS calls, about 79% of the total call volume. In the late 60’s, transportation fees were charged to support the increasing level of services being provided.

In the early 70’s, emergency medical technicians (EMT) became the standard level of care. In the late 1970’s, paramedic-level care was introduced into the Fire Department and became the standard. These levels of service require training to certify and maintain advanced-level skills and knowledge of cutting-edge equipment. EMT-Basic requires 160 hours of initial training and EMT-Paramedic training requires 1,200 additional hours of initial training. There are yearly continuing education courses that both levels must attend in order to maintain certification as well as remain abreast of frequent changes in medical proceedures.

Into the late 70’s, non-emergent transports were done by Callahan Edfast. This process changed when Callahan Edfast sold their ambulance service to Med-Assist who was able to upgrade their service to paramedic-level care and began transporting some emergency patients. In the early 80’s, difficult financial times, personnel reductions, and a hiring freeze in the City of Grand Junction led to privatization of emergency transport services. Though continuing to respond to all calls as first responders, privatization of transport services enabled the Fire Department to get back into service faster and operate more effectively with the lowered manpower.

Med-Assist was changed to Monument Ambulance in 1979 and, in 1981, Quality Ambulance came to Grand Junction from California. Emergency transports were split between the two companies. Monument Ambulance declared bankruptcy in 1983 and was forced to close its doors. In the mid 80’s, Premier Ambulance Service started business and Quality Ambulance was first sold to Life Star Ambulance, and then to Life Care. Paramedic Services Ambulance opened in the early 90’s and the transports were shared among these three services. Paramedic Services was eventually bought by the same company that owned Premier and Life Care forming one company, Premier Ambulance Service. In 1996, Med-Trans Corporation purchased Premier and, in 1997, changed the name to American Medical Response Ambulance Service (AMR).

 

 

This year, following a lengthy process, the GJFD was chosen to add emergency and non-emergency transportation to its EMS duties. We look forward to fulfilling our mission by ensuring the quality of life for our community through prevention and effective mitigation of emergencies which threaten life and property and to fulfill the City strategic goals of exceptional emergency services.

View Powerpoint Presentation on Fire History