History

The Lakewood Fire Protection District was founded in 1937 as the Lakewood-Mountair Fire Department.
The first fire equipment was purchased entirely with donations from the community. 

In December of 1991, the Lakewood and Bancroft boards of directors began talking about consolidation. The chiefs of both districts believed the community would be better served as one agency.

The West Metro Fire Protection District was created in 1995 after the people we serve voted to consolidate the Lakewood Fire Protection District and the Bancroft Fire Protection District.

At the time, Bancroft had seven fire stations and 67 firefighters. Lakewood had five stations, with 105 firefighters. The districts finally merged on January 1, 1995, and became West Metro Fire Rescue. 

In April of 2016, Wheat Ridge Fire merged with West Metro Fire Rescue. The two districts had been working together for some time on many fire and emergency calls and also training together at West Metro's Training Center. 

​A feasibility study showed that a merger would result in cost savings for taxpayers and more robust service for the cities of Wheat Ridge and Edgewater. Voters approved of the merger in October 2016.