Chief Doug Fritz was awarded the 2025 George Mazzotti Fire Chief of the Year for Colorado. Chief Fritz was recognized at the Colorado Fire Leadership Challenge in Keystone, Colorado on Thursday, October 23, 2025.

The annual award recognizes a fire chief’s positive contributions to leadership, innovation, professional development, integrity, service to the public, or other contributions to the Colorado fire service.

In 1986, Chief Fritz began his service with the Hotchkiss Fire District and responded to his first fire in 1987. On Jan. 1, 2020, Fritz became Hotchkiss Fire’s third fire chief. Appointed on a Saturday morning and later that day, he handled the first call of the year and his first call as Chief.

Chief Fritz has continued to share his knowledge, his leadership and his hard work ethics with so many of the fire fighters who have passed through this District, never being selfish and always willing to share with every firefighter. His dedication and his comittment to this community has been exemplary.

Chief Fritz had been able to find “innovative ways to improve his district’s capabilities.” Under Chief Fritz’s leadership, the Hotchkiss’s Fire Protection Class rating was improved, lowering insurance costs for residents while increasing public safety.

Chief Fritz stated, "I appreciate the recognition at the award ceremony, the huge response we’ve received from the community, our partner agencies and peers has been especially heartwarming. It’s hard to sum up 26 years of work in a few sentences, or to thank the hundreds of people over those years who’ve helped us reach a number of goals. In the end, it’s really about our community’s volunteer firefighters who continue to respond to their neighbors’ emergencies, and I’ve been extremely lucky to be part of that."

The community and the Hotchkiss Fire District is proud to have Doug Fritz as our Fire Chief and fellow citizen.

Congratulations Chief Fritz, it is well DESERVED!!