NEDERLAND, Colo. (KDVR) — As investigators continue to sift through the debris, the Nederland Fire Protection District is sharing a new perspective about what it is like to fight a big fire in a small town.

Nederland has a population of about 1,500 people. However, the Nederland Fire Protection District spans 52 square miles and serves about 7,000 people.

“We don’t have a lot of population, so although we have a very large region, we don’t have that many people,” Chief Charlie Schmidtmann said.

Schmidtmann is one of six paid staff members at the department. The rest, about 24 firefighters, do the job on a volunteer basis.

“That’s what we rely on. We have to have that and that’s what makes the community so great, is that everyone is willing to come out when we need it,” Schmidtmann said

See Full Page