The Washington Township Trustees have made the hard decision to close the Rippey Fire Department. In the years past we have been blessed with many faithful volunteers that have been committed to providing fire protection to the Washington Township residents. As time has passed, people have moved, businesses changed and volunteer’s jobs have changed, thus making it impossible to have enough volunteers available to provide the needed fire protections. We are responsible for providing fire protection for our residents, so we have talked with the Grand Junction Fire department that has agreed to cover our residents. We also have Jamaica and surrounding area departments that cover parts of our township. We want to thank these departments for providing great fire protection to our township. We also want to extend a heartfelt Thank You to all those firefighters that volunteered for the Rippey Fire department since 1911, when it started. Your commitment and dedication are recognized and appreciated.
With the closing of our fire department, we have the equipment used by the department. A lot of the personnel protection gear was getting outdated so would soon need to be replaced. We learned of the Midwest Mission project, out of Jefferson, that will ship fire protection gear and equipment to underdeveloped countries that don’t have access to this equipment. We decided to donate our fireman’s apparel and some small accessories to this great project! They were very appreciative and said many of the places they donate to fight fires in flip flops and shorts! They have lost several firemen due to lack of appropriate gear. We hope our donations can make a difference in their ability to fight their village fires safely.
Washington Township Trustees:
Neal Dollinger, Chairman
Greg Jacobs
Mary Ann Hick
Jean Borgeson, Clerk
Washington Township News – March 17, 2025