Editor's note: This year marks the 150th anniversary of Longmont’s founding. To celebrate, The Longmont Leader is working with Erik Mason, curator of research at the Longmont Museum and author of the book "Longmont: The First 150 Years," to highlight notable individuals from Longmont’s past.
The series will include wives and mothers, businesspeople, a soldier, an activist, and even an outlaw or two. Together they show the determination, strength, business skill, and sometimes a lack of principles, that made the city what it is today.
***
With a crucial public safety mission and participation in beloved community outreach activities, a fire department is among the most visible public agencies in any city. Longmont Fire Services Division has a long history, and a significant milestone in its development was the 1918 hiring of Vern Campbell as the city’s first career fire chief.
His hiring came after city officials and advocates sought to change the way fire services were delivered in the years after a devastating fire destroyed much of Main Street in 18791, In the wake of that blaze, three volunteer firefighting companies were organized to protect city buildings and property, according to Bob Thoman, a retired Longmont firefighter and amateur historian. They acted almost as nonprofits, raising money for equipment and other needs.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the structure began to change as Longmont City Council and firefighting advocates began to face sometimes-difficult discussions about the future. A 1904 Longmont Ledger article reported this as well2. In the end, a city fire station was built on Fourth Avenue and Coffman Street, and the department was founded in 19073 and 19084. Campbell was appointed as the city’s first professional, paid fire chief a decade later
During his tenure, Campbell led efforts to fight one of Longmont’s most notable fires, the 1934 blaze at the Longmont Flour Mill. Erik Mason, curator of history at the Longmont Museum, said the fire “was supposedly visible as far away as Boulder. A big wooden building full of four and flour dust would have burned quite large.”
Campbell’s time as fire chief wasn’t without disruptions. Historic news clippings show that in 1925, he was relieved of his duties by an outgoing city council, late in a meeting just prior to midnight. The Daily Times noted public dismay the next morning and concern over him being ineligible for his pension. Campbell was reinstated two years later5.
While he was fire chief, Campbell presided over significant upgrades in department vehicles. While firemen in the 1920s and 1930s used Longmont’s first motorized fire truck, a white vehicle that came to the department in 1914, they also used a pumper that came to the department in 1928, which can still be viewed at the Dougherty Museum on U.S. 287. The museum bought the truck for a dollar, Thoman said.
Campbell was married with two daughters, and according to Thoman and Mason, the family lived in the firehouse. They occupied the upper area that had formerly stored hay for fire truck horses, sharing it with the small number of paid fire personnel who stayed overnight on their shifts.
A Longmont Ledger story from 1904 calls for the city to create a professional fire department. Courtesy Colorado Historic Newspapers (https://bit.ly/39ZqtJv)Thoman joined the Longmont fire department in 1968, and while his career didn’t overlap with Campbell’s, he worked with some who knew him. Campbell was well respected by those men, Thoman said. A memo to all volunteers and a few paid department members he found, dated Nov. 22, 1937, gives some indication as to why. It also provides a look into what firefighting was like in that era.
It reads, in part: “Firemen are not only firemen, but they are called upon for all kinds of emergency work. Such as drowning, looking for lost people, and sometimes called upon for doing special police duty. It is, therefore, necessary, if you are leaving town for a period of more than 12 hours, that you get permission from the chief or an officer in charge to not change shifts or leave the station without permission … firemen must wear regulated uniforms which will consist of a suit or regulation pants, blue shirt, cap, black tie, and shoes … I feel this is for the best for the Fire Department and your cooperation will be greatly appreciated. Be proud of the uniform you wear. Be proud of the City Council, and of your city. And if humanly possible, be proud of your chief.”
Campbell’s tenure lasted nearly a quarter of a century, ending in 1942. During his time, he significantly impacted the fire department while setting aside time to engage in community outreach activities7. Both Mason and Thoman noted that Fire Station No. 2, at 2300 Mountain Ave., was named after him.
Just prior to stepping down as fire chief, Campbell bought his family a house at 239 Pratt St., one of the oldest homes in Longmont, according to Mason.
Campbell didn’t stop fighting fires once he retired. Mason found information that showed he moved on to serve at the Amache Japanese Internment Camp in Granada, in southeast Colorado.
Since Campbell’s tenure, much about the Longmont fire department has changed, and it is now known as the Fire Services Division of Longmont’s Public Safety Department.
Scott Snyder, Public Safety assistant chief, noted that firefighters in Campbell’s time didn’t have much in the way of protective equipment, using rubber coats and something for protective headgear.
“Now they wear more than $10,000 each in gear, including air packs. Fire trucks have also changed significantly. Previous trucks would pump 250 to 500 gallons a minute, and now the amount is up to 2,000,” Snyder said.
As much as things have changed, some crucial pieces of firefighting have stayed the same. “The agency is still organized in a military-style, with precision and a command structure, and they maintain a close connection to the community through parades, school visits, and other activities,” Snyder said.
He added one of the most prominent aspects of firefighting has remained constant from Campbell’s time to present day: “We still put out fires using the same primary agent — water.” he said.
As it turns out, a lot of things can change over time, but not everything.
***
Note: In addition to interviews, the following sources were used for this story.
1 Longmont Museum and Cultural Center
2Longmont Ledger, Feb. 19, 1904
5 Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection
6 National Register of Historical Places
7 Longmont Times Call
