On February 19, 1953, builder Sam Hoffman began development of a new community north of town (Denver). The new community was to be called Thornton, named after then current Colorado State Governor Dan Thornton. Three new model homes opened in April of 1953 off of Washington Street. Soon, families began buying homes in the development and accepted the commute of 10 miles back to town. On May 26th, 1956, an election was held, and Thornton was incorporated as a Colorado city. At that time, Thornton had a population of 8,640 and was one square mile in size.

Soon afterward, the new city realized its needs for a fire department and the Thornton Fire Department was formed. At that time, the department was all volunteer and responded out of a Quonset hut set on a hill in Thornton next to where the previous Fire Station 1 (and current Ken Freiberg Fire Museum) is located on Dorothy Blvd. Any smoke from a fire could be easily spotted from the Quonset hut door.  

Numerous firehouse stories have been told of how the location on the hill was also useful when the starter in the Seagrave would periodically fail. Several volunteer firefighters would push the engine out the door of the Quonset hut and down the hill so the clutch could be “popped” and the Seagrave would roar to life. Understandably, the first paid firefighter came shortly there after. Hired as a mechanic to keep the 1926 Seagrave in running condition, he also had to set down his wrenches and drive the engine to fire calls to meet responding volunteers coming from their homes and jobs.

As the city grew, so did the fire department. On September 25th, 1974, a Certificate of Affiliation was granted from the International Association of Firefighters. The new charter displayed the 15 new charter members signatures.  The certificate, issued by the IAFF to Local 2376 still hangs on the wall at fire station 1.

In early 1978, firefighters began walking the streets to talk to citizens about an upcoming special election. If the ballot issue were to pass, Local 2376 would be recognized by the city and obtain collective bargaining rights. Their goal was to achieve and maintain harmonious relations between the city and the firefighters. They also felt that that a recognized local would provide for equitable and peaceful procedures for the resolutions of differences, maintain a spirit of cooperation and willingness to work together to best serve the community, and to establish proper standards of wages, and other conditions of employment. On July 10th, 1978, the citizens of Thornton agreed with the firefighters and the recognition of Local 2376 and collective bargaining rights were won in the election.

Local 2376 has grown to 135 members and still maintains an active role in the community.  With 50 years of existence, the local maintains great pride in its special relationship with the city, community, and citizens of the City of Thornton.

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