Denver oldest serving fire station home to first Black firefighters

It’s known to those who served there as the “Pride of the Points.”

Denver Fire Station 3. The oldest Denver firehouse still in service, built in 1931.

And the only station where Black firefighters were assigned until the Denver Fire Department desegregated in 1957.

Today the children of these earliest public servants have a deep appreciation for Station 3’s commitment to excellence, and the pride that came in serving Denver’s Five Points community.

Beatrice Griffin is the daughter of Firefighter Sidney Frelow, who served in the late 1930s.

“This was a very prestigious job for a man to have and he took great pride in it, it became more than just a job, it was a career and a lifestyle,” said Griffin.  

Firefighter Charles Cousins’ daughter is retired pediatrician Dr. Renee Cousins King.  She said, “He used to say everybody loves a firefighter. And that’s a good feeling to have when you’re out in the community.”

The standards set here at Station 3, while the “Pride of the Points”, their impact extended across Denver.

“Captain Nathan Biffle was the commander here and he was reputed to be one of the best captains in the city,” said Cousins King.

“No nonsense, an excellent teacher, he had excellent command presence.”

Serving the community meant clearing racial hurdles.  And sometimes entailed paying the highest price in the line of duty.

“As a result of the aggressiveness of the African American firefighters, several of them were killed in the St. James fire in 1895,” said retired Denver Fire Chief Rod Juniel. “There have been contributions from the Black community in the fire service for many many years, over a hundred years.”

Juniel had to go to court to be admitted the Denver Fire Department in the 1970s.

Civil servants tried to block his path – even though he’d passed the test to join.  Juniel rose through the ranks to become Denver’s first Black fire chief.

Juniel said, “Our history is decorated with a lot of heroic efforts, but I think there’s some areas that we need to continue to address and make sure that we’re able to serve this community in an equitable way.”

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