Colorado Dark Sky Community Rallies Behind Fire Chief

NORWOOD, Colo., Sept. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Only the furthest towns away from big cities get the International Dark Sky designation for the brightest, starry nights. As remote as Norwood is in this big sky corner of southwestern Colorado, it's blessed with a fire, EMS and public safety infrastructure on par with many metro areas – and in some ways better.

Four years ago, career big-city firefighter John Bockrath moved his family here from Illinois to take over as Norwood Fire Protection District Chief. Since then, he's rallied to improve the rural department's capabilities by orders of magnitude. But now, facing a series of health issues and operations, the community is rallying behind Chief Bockrath with a Go-Fund-Me campaign.

The campaign asks: "What do you do with an almost 60-year-old fire chief whose knees are shot, but who won't stop jumping in to fight every fire? Who won't stop dropping to his knees to care for every patient on every medical call? Who keeps climbing up and down fire trucks and ladders, wearing out the rest of us?

"Chief Bockrath is a treasure to our little community and we hate to think of doing without our fearless leader and ball of energy. We can't afford to lose his spirit, his tremendous knowledge, or his willingness to teach and share what he's learned after a career as a big city firefighter/paramedic.

"His limp gets worse, but he never quits, and never complains. He needs a knee replacement which will help alleviate his pain and other potentially life-threatening issues."

Despite the campaign achieving its early goals, health threats and costs keep growing. Fire department officers and volunteers have expressed their gratitude to the community for their help so far, and now look outward for more support.

"Anyone who knows a firefighter hero knows who this guy is," said NFPD Public Information Officer John Metzger. "We've got a lot of country to cover out here, and we can't afford to lose his leadership. We need his experience and the communal support of fellow rural districts that strive to professionalize their fire/EMS services as more people leave cities and move to small towns like Norwood."

Media contact: John Metzger, [email protected].

SOURCE Norwood Fire Protection District