Gold Hill Fire Protection District Job Announcement: Part-Time Fire Chief Position

The small historic community of Gold Hill is nestled in the foothills west of Boulder, Colorado. The GHFPD serves a small community with an approximate population of 520 residing in 12 square miles. The Gold Hill Fire Protection District strives to offer emergency services to our community and our visitors through quick and thoughtful response to emergencies big and small. Our district consists of a platted historic old town, an adjacent subdivision, the community of Rowena in Lefthand Canyon and other remote mountain properties.

GHFPD has the enormous responsibility of protecting the Gold Hill community from wildfires through prevention, education, and quick reaction time to potential wildfire risks. Additionally, the continuous fuel model of the surrounding area provides great risk of wildfire spreading from surrounding districts or from wildfires within the GHFPD escaping and threatening other communities. A large majority of the lands within the GHFPD are public lands consisting of USFS, BLM, and Boulder County Open Space. No tax income (or any other) is generated by public lands. As with any remote fire district with older homes, treacherous and highly tracked roads, and seasonal tourism, we tend to see a bit of everything, from motor vehicle accidents, structure fires, traumatic accidents, and even plane crashes. We make a point to train on our skills and strive to provide a quick and efficient response to our community. Aside from our service to the Gold Hill community we also also respond to calls from an increasing number of out of town visitors with a quick and local emergency response to medical, safety and other emergency situations. We currently have a signicant number of elderly people in our district, and we want to support their safety and health as much as possible to continue allowing them to age well at home. Our goal is at minimum, to be first on scene to any emergency in our district, to offer the best of our skill and ability, and to responsibly call in other resources as needed.

At present the GHFPD has 21 volunteers with various levels of participation. The GHFPD board of directors believe that there is a high level of opportunity for recruitment within the community if proper outreach is paired with consistent leadership and a robust onboarding process. The annual call volume for the GHFPD is 20-25 calls and we commonly respond to auto and mutual aid calls. Though traditonally a 100% volunteer department a need has arisen for experienced paid leadership.

The Gold Hill Fire Protection District is searching for an experienced firefighter with leadership experience to fill the role of their new part time fire chief. This is a unique position with an estimated commitment of 40-50 hours a month. The expectation will be for these hours to be spread out evenly throughout the month and to allow availability for current and future volunteers to meet and interact with the new leadership. Given the goal of increased interaction some of these hours will be in the evenings or on weekends. The GHFPD fire chief will report directly to the GHFPD board of directors and will be expected to effectively communicate with volunteers and community members. This position will require an

understanding of managing incidents, both medical and fire, as well as leading personnel, community outreach, administration functions, and leading and putting on training. Additionally the position will require managing maintenance and inventory of equipment and organization of the fire station. There will also be an expectation for continued partnership and communication with neighboring departments, with an emphasis on wildfire mitigation efforts. One primary focus of this position is to empower current and future volunteers with skills necessary to operate in leadership and command roles in the modern fire fighting arena. Additionally we are looking for a candidate with the vision and drive to help build upon the foundation our volunteers have built for decades and help modernize and further grow a culture of community and service. This will be a salaried position with a yearly pay range of $25,000- $30,000, depending on level of experience, with a commitment of no less than 40 hours a month. This is slated as a temporary position of 1-2 years but has the opportunity to go beyond that with the right candidate. Benefits include standard sick time accrual per the Healthy Family and Workplaces Act, entry into the current GHFPD pension plan, and a monthly stipend to be spent on health insurance or medical needs. Given the limited hours and schedule flexibility of the position no vacation time is currently offered.

Please see our list of required qualifications and recommended qualifications below. If interested please submit a resume and a cover letter to the Gold Hill Fire Protection District Board of Directors at admin@nullgoldhillfire.org by Friday, March 29, 2024. The estimated hire date for this position is Monday, April 22, 2024.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• ●  Experience as a firefighter both structure and wildland
• ●  Leadership experience in public safety (Overseeing 5 or more personnel)
• ●  Demonstrate a strong writing background and an ability to effectively communicate ideas
• ●  Must live within a 30 minute response time to Gold Hill Fire Station #1
• ●  Must be available to schedule “shift work” throughout the week including weeknights and weekends
• ●  Must be able to respond to a minimum 50% of calls
• ●  Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of stakeholders
• ●  Current valid driver license
• ●  Must occasionally lift and/or move up to 100 lbs
• ●  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision,and ability to adjust focus
• ●  Must successfully pass a criminal background check, medical physical, and drug test
• ●  Must be able to provide references
• ●  Experience leading and organizing training

RECOMMENDED QUALIFICATIONS:

• ●  Demonstrate an administrative background in experience with grants, IQS, and managing spreadsheets, inventories, and rosters
• ●  Current Colorado DFPC Fireghter I certication
• ●  Current Hazmat Awareness and Ops
• ●  Wildland Firefighter I
• ●  NREMT
• ●  Experience organizing community events
• ●  Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to communicate in front of large groups
• ●  Knowledge of fire response operations, emergency medical care, and firefighting equipment inspections
• ●  Experience scheduling maintenance on equipment and conducting inventories