Mesa County Fire Authority
The Mesa County Fire Authority was formed in 2021 as the result of a merger between Central Orchard Mesa Volunteer Fire Department and Lands End Fire Protection District and covers 207 square miles in Mesa County (Colorado) including the areas of Bridgeport, Cactus Park, Cheney Reservoir, Deer Run, Dominguez Canyon, Eagle Trail, Escalante Canyon, Grand Mesa National Forest, Gunnison River, Halhenbeck Reservoir, Hallock Basin, Highway 50, Highway 141, Indian Creek, Grand Mesa, Juniata Reservoir, Reeder Mesa, Kannah Creek, King Creek, Orchard Mesa, Purdy Mesa, Red Tail, Sand Flat, Triangle Mesa, Tunnel Point, Unaweep/Tabeguache Byway, Valla Vista, Whitewater Hill, & Whitewater.
Lands End Fire Protection District started out in 1995 as “A Land’s End Response Team” (ALERT), a dedicated group of residents in the Land Ends area that responded north of Hwy 50 from mile marker 41 to the Delta County line and had the responsibility of stabilizing patients while waiting for an ambulance from Grand Junction.
In 1998, the team expand service to include the area south of Hwy. 50, and Hwy. 141 up to the Cactus Park turnoff. In 2002, voters approved for a fire district, and Lands End Fire Protection District was created.
Beginning in 2020, the chief of Central Orchard Mesa announced his retirement and Lands End’s chief was not far behind him. With both chiefs retiring, and shrinking departments, the departments looked into the idea of a merger and began the process of cooperation between both agencies which prompted joint training, responses, and personnel.
The Mesa County Fire Authority is dispatched by the Grand Junction Regional Communication Center.