About Us
Hotchkiss Fire District (Delta County Fire Protection District # 4), covers 120 square miles in Delta County (Colorado) including the areas of Black River, Cottonwood Creek, Elmwood Homestead, Fire Mountain Canal, Flying W Ranch, Hanson Mesa, Horse Park, Lazear, Leroux Creek, Oak Mesa, Powell Mesa, Redlands Mesa, Rimrock, River Ridge, Rogers Mesa, Shart Draw, Silver Sage, Spurlin Mesa, Stingley Gulch, Stoney Creek, Whipple Gulch & Wolf Ranch Park. (FDID #02935) (Department Wildland Identifier: CO-HOTX)
Hotchkiss Fire District, was formed in 1952 as the Hotchkiss Fire Department from the remnants of several volunteer fire companies dating from the 1890’s including Redlands Mesa Volunteer Fire Department. In 1956 the Delta County Fire Protection District # 4 was formed.
The Hotchkiss Fire District’s has 32 volunteer firefighters serve and protect approximately 4000 to 6000 residents across 120 square miles. We maintain two stations and a fleet of 8 apparatus (fire trucks, ladder trucks, brush trucks), 2 UTVs, 2 Rescue Boats, 2 Command Vehicles, and several trailers. Each of these pieces of equipment is highly specialized and vital to fire protection and rescue operations.
For the past two decades, Hotchkiss Fire has relied heavily on federal and state grant funding for replacing both apparatus and equipment. In 2023, Hotchkiss partnered with 3 other Delta County Fire Protection Districts to apply for a FEMA grant to replace their aging and defunct SCBA (air packs), which had greatly exceeded their intended lifespan. $828,000 was awarded collectively to the four departments for this critical equipment that allows firefighters to breathe inside burning buildings or other environments filled with toxic and superheated gases.
The Hotchkiss Fire District relies solely on volunteers who are on-call 24/7/365, responding from work or home. These firefighters willingly give their time and energy, expecting nothing in return other than having the proper tools and PPE to get the job done as safely as possible.
Wildfire danger continues to be a concern. A majority of the homes within the District could be considered to be at a moderate to high risk of destruction by wildfire. Grass, brush and agricultural fires make up about 90% of their fire calls. Hotchkiss Fire maintains a fleet of 3 brush trucks and 2 UTV’s that are used in fighting wildland fires, along with miles of hose, dozens of fittings, several portable water tanks, water pumps, a 2000-gallon water tender, and a wide array of other tools and equipment that need regular maintenance and periodic replacement.
Hotchkiss Fire District sponsors their volunteer firefighters, along with about a dozen non-local “cooperators”, to become qualified and available to deploy on large wildfires and other disasters nation-wide.
Hotchkiss Fire personnel contribute to the national response capability of our country, assisting communities in need during crises and disasters.
Several Hotchkiss Fire personnel are also members of Colorado’s Southwest Incident Management Team. They gain operational confidence and pride in knowing that our community is backed up by a skilled and capable team who remain regionally available 24/7/365 to respond if our community ever has an incident that exceeds local resource capabilities.
The Hotchkiss Fire District achieved a significant improvement in their ISO rating, moving to an ISO Class 5 (down from older Class 9 ratings) around July 2020, a change that helps lower fire insurance costs for businesses and residents in their area. (Note: ISO ratings range from 1 to 10, with Class 1 being the best, so a Class 5 is a strong rating)