Department History

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The Thornton Fire Department began as a volunteer department in the 1950’s. The volunteers took turns keeping the 1924 American LaFrance fire truck at their homes until the community had facilities to store it. The phone company also set-up a special telephone system so every time an emergency call was placed, it would ring at all the firemen’s homes, they would listen for the address and then would meet at the fire.

In 1994, the Thornton Fire Department and the West Adams County Fire Protection District merged to form the North Metro Fire Rescue District and covered the cities of Thornton, Broomfield and Northglenn. This District was in force until December 31, 1999, when it was decided to de-merge the two. The Thornton Fire Department was then re-created on January 1, 2000.

Thornton's Fire Department now consists of 95 full-time employees and operates five 24-hour fire stations.

Questions?

For non-emergency information, email us at firedept@cityofthornton.net, or call 303-538-7602. Or visit our contact information page...

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