GLEN HAVEN, Colo. (KDVR) — Glen Haven volunteer firefighters gathered anxiously at the fire station Friday night, waiting for their first glimpse of their newest piece of equipment.
Heiman Fire Equipment, a South Dakota company, offered to donate an upgraded fire truck to the department, after an impassioned plea from Shaun Nolan, whose mother volunteers there.
The department gave everything it had to fight the Cameron Peak Fire, a fight that left their resources exhausted.
“Every single one of our trucks had some kind of mechanical failure during the fire, and had to be repaired or taken out of service,” says Chief Kevin Zagorda.
That impact is tough to deal with, for a department that runs entirely on community donations.
“We have a pancake breakfast that we run every July,” says Zagorda. “All of the money we need to run our department and buy and repair equipment, all comes out of donations.”
Shaun Nolan heard about the department’s struggles, and started fundraising in November, hoping to outfit them with boots, gloves, and other equipment.
“I wanted to go a step further, so I started extensively making phone calls,” says Nolan. “And I got ahold of Heiman Fire up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and they agreed to donate a fire tanker truck.”
Nolan says Denver-based Western Towing and Recovery offered to drive up to South Dakota, and bring the truck here, free of charge.
That truck was supposed to arrive Friday, but fell behind schedule in Nebraska. It’s expected to arrive Saturday.
“They went above and beyond what you would expect to do this for us, not only in sourcing a used truck, but upgrading that truck to make it usable,” says Zagorda. “It’s just phenomenal what they did.”