Staff, Team & Fire Chief
Learn more about the Platte Valley Fire Protection District’s Fire Chief, Administrative Staff, and Fire & EMS Battalions below.
Fire chief
James S. Klug
On behalf of the 28 uniformed personnel and four administrative staff of the Platte Valley Fire Protection District, I would you like to welcome you to our new website! I hope that after perusing the pages of this website, you are able to see you have a dedicated, compassionate, highly skilled and highly trained group of Firefighter/EMTs and Firefighter/Paramedics that are here to serve you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our people value community, team, character, and professionalism, and this is shown every day in how we serve the citizens of the District and those passing through.
We have only been a Fire District for the past 70 years, but our Department has provided service to this community for over 114 years. We have the same commitment to our community today as the dedicated volunteers and community members had in the early 1900s. We are here for you, just like they were for their community then. However, our department looks very different today than it did then. Today we offer 24/7 response with 20 full-time uniformed personnel and eight part-time and reserve uniformed personnel. We provide Fire and EMS response as we always have, but have since added wildland fire capabilities, technical rescue capabilities, hazardous material response capabilities, and water rescue/dive response.
Our membership is made up of a group of committed individuals with a drive to be masters of their craft. They put in hundreds of hours of training each month. They have basic and advanced level certifications in multiple disciplines. They are dedicated to being there for you on your worst day.
I came to the Platte Valley Fire Protection District in 2016 as the Operations & Training Chief. I became your Fire Chief in April of 2022. I bring with me 24 years of emergency services experience that started in my home state of Wisconsin. Prior to joining Platte Valley Fire, I spent time as a Lieutenant and Captain at the Frederick-Firestone Fire Protection District. Prior to that, I was promoted through the ranks with the Milliken Fire Protection District, which is now known as Front Range Fire Rescue. I have had the honor and privilege of serving with many talented individuals over the years, and all of them invested in me in some way, helping prepare me to lead this great organization. Of course, I couldn’t do what I get to do today without the support of my wife Jillian and sons Jameson, Jasper, and Jackson.
As your Fire Chief, my promise to you is to be a progressive, aggressive, innovative, and fiscally responsible Fire Department committed to making a difference in the lives of the community we serve – which is you!
Yours in service,
James S. Klug
Fire Chief
FIRE & EMS BATALLIONS
The Operations Division of the Fire District is led by three Shift Battalion Chiefs that lead our three Battalions. These three Battalions consist of a Shift Battalion Chief, Company Lieutenant, an Engineer (Driver/Pump Operator), and three Firefighter-EMTs and/or Firefighter-Paramedics.
The mission of our Fire District is “To make a difference in our community and surrounding area by protecting and compassionately caring for life and property through skilled and well-equipped emergency services and life safety programs.” The Operations Division plays the largest role in accomplishing this mission through effective delivery of emergency response. All of our emergency services staff are trained at the EMT-Basic or EMT-Paramedic level. These responders provide fire suppression, basic and advanced emergency medical care and life support, and other specialty operations such as swiftwater rescue, dive rescue, technical rescue, vehicle extrication, and wildland fire suppression. To maintain skills in all these areas, our staff members are constantly training. You will often see them on the training grounds perfecting their skills.
We have members who participate in our own Special Operations programs, as well as members who play an active role in outside programs such as the Greeley Fire Department Regional HazMat Team and Colorado Task Force 1.
Platte Valley Fire also assists with our local area through automatic and mutual aid agreements. We provide automatic aid assistance to Evans, LaSalle, Greeley, Galeton, Wiggins, Southeast Weld, and Hudson on larger incidents such as structure fires, large vegetation fires, and multi-vehicle traffic accidents. In return, those agencies provide automatic aid to us for larger incidents. On a structure fire, you will see Fire Engines from these agencies along with ours.
Services provided by Our Operational Team Include:
Fire Suppression – Search & Rescue – Traffic Accident Response – Vehicle Extrication – EMS Response – Public Education – Fire Prevention – Swiftwater Rescue – Dive Rescue – Trench Rescue – Confined Space Rescue – Low Angle Rope Rescue – High Angle Rescue – Urban Search and Rescue – Fire & Life Safety Inspections – Fire Investigations – Car Seat Safety Installations – Incident Command – Automatic Aid and Mutual Aid Response
TRAINING DIVISION
The Platte Valley Fire Protection District has a training facility located on the same property as the Firehouse. The Training Division is responsible for coordinating and managing all aspects of the District’s training and certification program.
