As Stage 2 fire restrictions kick in in Garfield County, wildfires push the air quality index into the triple digits and emergency calls steadily increase, the Glenwood Springs Fire Department (GSFD) is enduring it all while staring down a $2.9 million funding gap. The word is being spread to Glenwood Springs residents to generate awareness of the issue, before considering a ballot initiative.
The City of Glenwood Springs receives a mill levy of approximately $3.1 million and another $1.3 million through the Glenwood Springs & Rural Fire Protection District. Costs in 2026, however, have reached $7.3 million. To fill part of that gap, the City has been diverting from the tobacco and marijuana tax funds, even though those accounts were not intended to cover fire department costs. According to City Manager Steve Boyd, these funds have been serving their purpose of discouraging tobacco and marijuana consumption, which has indeed decreased year by year.
Grant funding has managed to fill some holes, but only for specific operations. In 2025, the department secured $1.64 million through the Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program and $641,000 from a Natural Disaster Enterprise Grant, which assisted significantly in wildfire mitigation efforts. While GSFD is pursuing these funds again, the department faces high operational costs, which extend beyond wildfire even.
In 2025, GSFD responded to 2,520 incidents. This value has remained steady for the past three years but represents a general increase since 2020, which Boyd attributes to both an increased and aging population. Emergency medical service and rescue calls accounted for approximately 64%, while only 2.34% of calls were for fires.
The department website states that “Operations personnel are faced with multiple calls at the same time on approximately 20% of our total incident count, stretching our available personnel very thin and occasionally requiring mutual aid assistance from our neighbors, Colorado River Fire Protection District and Carbondale Fire.”
While GSFD makes use of personnel assistance from nearby departments — for which Boyd says the City is extremely grateful — one of the issues facing GSFD is the competition with neighboring departments for hiring trained personnel. The department currently has 31 full-time and 23 part-time staff members, which makes up 75-80% of its total costs. A lack of affordable housing and increased costs of living in Glenwood exacerbate the problem.
According to Finance Director Yvette Gustad, the City is not currently hiring more full-time personnel. However, the department is seeking additional reserve firefighters to help fill gaps.
Fire departments are often measured nationally by a 1-10 rating system created by the Insurance Services Office, hence its shorthand: ISO score. This score is weighted by insurance companies to set fire insurance premiums on properties.
Fire departments often receive two ISO scores hyphenated together, one which covers the area within five miles of a fire station and the other for properties more than five miles away.
Currently, GSFD has an ISO score of 2-9. Boyd attributes the rating of 2 primarily to Glenwood’s exceptional water and fire hydrant infrastructure. However, the district only has three fire stations to cover its overall 72-square-mile response area, meaning that much of the district has a significantly lower ISO score. What’s more, according to Boyd, is that Fire Station 71 in West Glenwood is in dire need of expansion if it hopes to service the area effectively.
As funding continues to run a deficit, it is possible that the ISO score could slip, which would not only reflect increased fire danger but mean increased insurance premiums for residents.
During a Glenwood Springs City Council meeting on June 18, members discussed the possibility of a sales or property tax increase appearing as a ballot question, the likes of which other jurisdictions have already passed.
At this time, according to Communications and Engagement Officer Bryana Starbuck, a primary goal of the City is to communicate to residents the nature and gravity of the funding gap before sending out a ballot question.