Big Fires: 1980-1999
The department's eighth station and training center was put into service on January 1, 1980. Taxpayers in the fire district approved a $1.5 million dollar bond issue to construct the facility, which is located at 6651 Indiana St. .
John Dienst, Lynn Sellers, Terry Hoy, Sam Gillan and Bob White each served as fire chief during the 1980's. It was during this time that fire crews witnessed more civilian fire deaths than that of any other generation in the department's history. Seven civilians lost their lives in residential fires that occurred between 1981 and 1989. The cause of all but one of the deadly fires is recorded as careless smoking, and the remaining cause is listed as child playing with lighter.
In addition to the tragic residential fires that characterized the decade, firefighters also confronted some of the worst commercial fires in the department's history. The Wheat Ridge Lumber Company Fire on March 7, 1985 and the Army-Navy Surplus Fire on May 11, 1989 are two of the most notorious incidents in the department's history.
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The end of the fiery 1980s did not bring an end to civilian fire deaths attributed to careless smoking. Careless smoking is the likely cause of a house fire that took the life of a 39-year-old Arvada woman in 1993 and an apartment fire that took two lives in 1996.
David J. Eisenbeisz and Charlie Johlgren each represented the department as fire chief between 1992 and 1998. During this time, the department's Internet web site was launched and in late 1998, the department's first thermal imaging cameras were in use. Thermal imaging cameras enable firefighters to see through smoke and are among the most significant fire service innovations to arise during the 20th century, topped only by the development of motorized fire apparatus and self-contained breathing apparatus. .
On January 24, 1994, AFD firefighters rescued 36-year-old Manuel Herrera and his sons, 7-month-old Sean and 2 -year-old Manuel Jr., from their burning third-floor apartment at 6429 Quail St. All three sustained critical burns and were unconscious when firefighters arrived. The family returned to Fire Station 6 to thank the firefighters who saved them after the boys spent a month in Children's Hospital recovering from burns. The Herrera fire was one of two 2-alarm fires in the Arvada Fire Protection District that day.
Other notorious incidents in the 1990s include the 2-alarm Mother's Day fire on May 8, 1994 and the 2-alarm Interstate 70 Self-Storage fire on February 13, 1995. More than 100 firefighters used 1 million gallons of water and worked tirelessly in freezing temperatures to contain the I-70 Self-Storage fire.
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