Photo by Will Cornelius
Firefighters old and new broke ground on the site of a future showroom museum last Saturday. From left to right in hard hats are, Paul Rimsky, John Beck, Pete Cowdin and Jerry Ward with Berthoud’s current firefighters behind them.

By Will Cornelius
The Surveyor

Ever wondered what it was like to be a firefighter in the early frontier days of Berthoud? Well, you will not have to wonder for much longer. Last Saturday, firefighters old and new broke ground on the future site of a showroom museum celebrating Berthoud’s rich firefighting history.

“Today marks a significant day for us as we come together to break ground for the building of the Berthoud Fire vehicle showroom,” Paul Rimsky announced at the groundbreaking. Rimsky is a member of the Caretakers of Tradition, a local non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of Berthoud’s fire and rescue services.

Formed in 2018, the group has spent the past few years restoring two of Berthoud’s original firefighting vehicles, a 1927 GMC firetruck and an 1888 firefighting hose cart. The 1927 firetruck was the first motorized vehicle the town ever purchased and was used by local fire and rescue until 1953.

After falling into disrepair in the following decades, the Caretakers of Tradition restored the truck. “Of course, that red paint is not cheap, nor is the gold leaf. But boy does it look good now that we’re all done with it,” Rimsky explained.

Restoring the 1888 firefighting hose cart was another beast though. The massive wheels attached to the cart were missing spokes and the ones that were still there had cracks that made it practically immobile. Rimsky thought they would have to go to Amish country out east to find a wainwright. Thankfully they were able to find someone in Black Forest, Colo. that was able to fix the wheels of the cart.

With the two pieces of Berthoud firefighting history restored, the next step was creating a place to show them to the public. After hearing about a similar project by firefighters in Windsor, the Caretakers of Tradition decided to build a showroom museum attached to the current Berthoud Fire Department. “Our defined mission is summed up in three words. Preservation, restoration and education,” Rimsky explained.

With an estimated cost of $200,000, the group reached out to local builders, contractors and other tradespeople to see if they would be willing to donate their labor or material. “Our electrical is all donated,” Rimsky said. The 870-square-foot showroom is expected to take six months to complete.

At the groundbreaking, Rimsky said that Dale Hartman, Jason Hepp and David Stranathan had “gone above and beyond” in helping with the project.

“Deeply appreciate all of your help, we could not have gotten to this point without all of the community support and our steering committee members, thank you all,” Pete Cowdin, another member of the Caretakers of Tradition told the crowd.