According to the 2026 Colorado Fire Service Needs Assessment, released in August by the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC), two-thirds of Colorado fire departments can’t fund their full operations, and nearly 80% can’t afford the equipment and staffing they say they need.
Funding gaps like these are why local fire departments turned to voters this past election day, putting measures to help with funding on ballots.
In Arvada, voters had the opportunity to decide on ballot question 6C, which proposed a 1% sales tax increase in the Arvada Fire Protection District to support several areas including, maintain firefighter and paramedic staffing levels, emergency vehicles and equipment, modernize facilities.
Voters appear to reject measure for Arvada Fire funding
In a statement posted to social media, Arvada Fire Chief Kirk Lock acknowledging that ballot question 6C was “unlikely to pass”…