In January of 2006, eleven members of Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue joined the International Association of Firefighters becoming Local 4472. We as a group made this move in hopes to better our working environment and to achieve a safer and better functioning fire service.
The decision to join these organizations was deliberate. As fire and EMS providers, we perform a unique service of the City of Steamboat Springs. We, as professional fire and EMS providers, often deal with life and death situations concerning visitors and residents of Steamboat Springs. We also provide fire protection for millions of dollars worth of property in the City of Steamboat Springs and its surrounding district. It is important to us, as front line providers, to have input into our future and safety. By joining these two organizations we have been able to come together as a group and have developed a unified voice. This voice allows us to communicate clearly within our department, as well as with city management and council.
This membership provides us access to an abundance of information and resources previously unavailable. As organizations on the leading edge of fire/EMS issues, the IAFF and CPFF offer us national and state databases of departments similar to ours that face many of the same issues. With this information we hope to become a valuable resource for our management and for the City of Steamboat Springs. In that way we can reference information for many of the difficulties we often deal with in developing a framework for a growing fire department.
Our local would like to be involved in the long-term vision of Steamboat Springs Fire/Rescue. As the City of Steamboat Springs continues to grow, the structure and dynamics of the fire department will continue to grow as well. Ideally we would create a working agreement between the city and our local to help assure a successful working partnership for years to come.
To all of our brothers and sisters out there, please feel free to contact us if you have any comments that could help our new local make this transition a productive one.
Members IAFF Local 4472
