Loveland Fire Stations 1890 through Present

Loveland Fire Department has grown from its humble beginnings in the late 1800’s with its small Hose and Ladder companies to what it is today as the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority. From a small barn housing its first Hose Cart to the multiple stations in operation today. many changes have occurred in this process encompassing the growing fleet of apparatus to the expanding need for living quarters as they went from a Volunteer organization to the full time Professional department it is today. Here are our stations from the first to the present and the new one being constructed.

Original Hose House 1890-1909

The hose house in the background is believed to be the first fire station housing the Bartholf Hose Company No. 1 and the Loveland Hook and Ladder No. 1. It was located in the 400 Block of B Street (Todays address would be on the west side of Cleveland Ave. between 4th and 5th Streets) Original cost of construction was $989.

Fire Station 1, 222 East 5th Street 1909-1966

In 1909 the city contracted to replace its old Hose House with a new station at a cost of $9,215. They also placed an order for the cities first motorized fire truck to replace the old hand drawn hose cart. The station was a combined fire, police and city administration building. The building was expanded at an unknown date, with the rear of the building incorporating an existing house. The address was changed to 226 at some point in time.

Currant Fire Station 1. 410 East 4th Street. Opened in 1966

This building was the fire, police, and city administration building. The building has been remodeled a couple of times, with the police and city administration offices moving to new locations. At present the building is occupied by Fire Station 1, LFRA headquarters and the City of Loveland Development Center. (planning, permitting, building)

Fire Station 2. 2750 North Taft Ave Opened 1974 Decommissioned 2014

Loveland’s Station 2 was built in 1974 to meet the need of the growing city growth to the northwest. It was decommissioned in 2014 and sold to Thompson Valley Ambulance as a west station for them.

New Fire Station 2. Opened October 2014 3070 West 29th St.

The new station 2 was built to accommodate a two company station (Engine 2 and Rescue 2) along with additional equipment and housing needs. The move further to the West reflected the addressing of increased response times as the city grew in that direction.

Fire Station 3. 900 South Wilson Ave Opened 1980

Loveland built Fire Station 3 due to city growth and lessons learned during the Big Thompson Flood of 1976. The need for fire protection south of the Big Thompson River which cut the city in half became very evident. The station is still in operation but there is a great need to upgrade or replace it to accommodate growing needs.

Fire Station 4 4900 Earhart Rd. Opened 1993

Loveland Fire Station 4 was built to provide fire protection for the Airport and the industrial area east of town. It was manned for a period of time a,d now is unmanned. Crash Rescue equipment is housed at the location and manned as a need basis to accommodate air operations.

Fire Station 5 251 Knobcone Drive Opened 1998

Fire Station 4 was opened on the north side of town to accommodate the growing city and increased response times to the area. The station is in service today but need updating and expansion to meet growing needs.

Fire Station 6 4325 McWhinney Blvd Opened 2004

Fire Station 6 was built as Loveland’s first two company station, housing Engine 6 and Tower 6. Currently in service providing protection to the eastern part of the city and I25.

Original Fire Station 8 1579 West Highway 34

New Station 8 1461 West Highway 34

main Fire Station for the Big Thompson Volunteer Fire Department. The first station that they have had that they could have a meeting room, offices , kitchen and dorm area.

Original Station 9. Opened in 1979, Decommissioned in 2016

New Fire Station 9 100 Palisade Mountain Dr. Opened in 2016

The new Fire Station 9 was built to replace the old station at Cedar Springs. The original station was built onland leased from the homeowners association with volunteer labor. The new station encompasses more apparatus storage and equipment.

Currently under construction is Fire Station 7 which is located near Big Thompson Elementary school with projected completion sometime this year in order to accommodate westward expansion of the city. The LFRA continues to grow responsively in an effort to provide the city with the best fire protection they can provide, with more exciting things to come in the near future.

Old Fire Station #1, 220 East 5th Street

In the early months of 1909 the Loveland City Council began to discuss the inadequacy of the present firefighting apparatus and its housing.  The council agreed with the Department, and began entering into a contract to purchase a Seagraves Motorized fire truck.  They also at this time started the process to construct a new City Hall, Police Department, Fire Department, and City Offices.  In September the Bartholf Hose team took delivery of a Seagraves Chemical Wagon.  Later in that same year the city constructed the new building at 220 East 5th Street.  This building was in service until 1966, when a new station was built at 410 East 5th Street to replace it.  Sadly the old station was torn down and a parking lot is in its place.

Thanks to a video produced by Al Stevens, Loveland first Fire Marshall, I was able to get some pictures in order to show a tour of the old Fire Station.  You will definitely be able to see how it was for the firefighters at that time, and see the great need for a newer, and larger facility.

Here is a picture of the station when it was fairly new. In the Bay door you can see the 1919 Federal Fire Truck (Replacing the 1909 Seagraves) along with members standing around it.  Looking at the building, where the truck is located was the bay for the station.  Directly above is where the offices and living quarters were located.  The center was the entrance to the Police Station, on the right side, and the stairs leading up to the City Hall and Offices.  At the top of the stairs was the entrance to the living quarters for the Fire Department.

Here we see the stairs leading up to the City Offices, an office used by the civil air patrol, and the door on the left at the top leads to the Fire Department offices and quarters

Once entering the door to the Fire department you would find small kitchen area where meals were prepared, a fridge, and to the left of the fridge a door to the restroom.

Off the kitchen area was a eating area with a small TV on the dresser.  The door to the left of the small towel hanging on the wall was the small shower. The door to the right of the TV lead into the meeting/training room.

The training and meeting room where the officers would hold meeting and firefighter training classes were held.  There was a pool table for leisure time and you can see the trophy case that held the trophies from the firefighter competitions, that were popular at the time.

The dorm area held six beds.  Four were for the duty personnel, with two extra for firefighters who wanted to spend the night.  The pole to the bay is scene between the beds, and a phone for receiving emergency calls on the wall.

The small office was located in the area of the small kitchen.

 

Looking into the bay from the street, you can see the 1950 American LaFrance Ford and the 1955 American LaFrance Engines. As you can see, it was already crowded.  You had to Drive one out in front of the other one at a time if both rigs were needed. On the back wall you can see hose hung for drying.

To the left of the cab of the American LaFrance you can see the dispatch desk.  You can also get an idea as to how tight you had to park the rigs to fit.

Her is a view of the back of the station.  You can see where they had added three additional bays for equipment and shop area.  Another interesting feature is as you can see, the station was built around an existing house.

Some pictures of the back bays and how packed they were for space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So you can imagine how grateful the department was to move to the new station when it was built. Here are pictures of the groundbreaking and the new station.

 

We owe these men and women a great deal for what we have today.  It was a time of small budgets and heavy reliance on volunteers.  It was a time if they needed something, generally they put their talents together and made it themselves.   Please remember to give them your thanks when you see them, as they are unfortunately getting fewer.  They built the foundation of what we have today!