Genesee Fire Rescue (GFR) is celebrating our 50th Anniversary throughout 2023. It is my pleasure to invite you to participate in this jubilee.

Since 1973, the volunteers of GFR have continued to serve our community with honor, integrity, and pride. Those who serve today know that we stand on the shoulders of all those selfless volunteers who have come before us, and it is that history that we wish to capture and to celebrate.

The centerpiece of our anniversary observance will be a collector’s book, Dedication and Service: 50 Years on Call with the Volunteers of Colorado’s Genesee Fire Rescue. Based on the oral histories of over a hundred past and present firefighters, the book is written by award-winning author and Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist Dean Rotbart, a Colorado native. It’s co-authored by Lieutenant Hank O’Brien, a volunteer since 2015.

The book will commemorate more than GFR’s five decades of service to Genesee and its neighbors. It will also reflect the evolution of Genesee from the era when miners first settled the area to its present status as one of the nation’s premier mountain-living communities.

Importantly, Dedication and Service will also salute firefighters throughout Colorado and the nation, pay- ing tribute to the spirit of volunteerism rooted in our American DNA.

In 1973, Genesee Fire Rescue volunteers outfitted a standard pickup truck with a water tank seated in its bed, a motor, and a one-inch line of hose and called themselves a fire company. The rest, as they say, is history.

We hope that you will consider capturing a piece of our shared history by ordering a book. Proceeds from the sale of Dedication and Service will benefit Genesee Fire Rescue and its volunteers.

Jason Puffett
Fire Chief