austin

Austin

chicago

Chicago

denver

Denver

lasvegas

Las Vegas

madison

Madison

nashville

Nashville

philly

Philly

pittsburgh

Pittsburgh

portland

Portland

saltlake

Salt Lake

seattle

Seattle

twincities

Twin Cities

We make podcasts and newsletters that connect people with the cities they love.

City Cast Denver

We ask local movers and shakers the essential questions.

Facing a $200 million budget deficit for2026, Mayor Mike Johnston has made some unpopular decisions lately — like laying off 169 city workers, ordering employees to take furlough days, and asking departments to cut, scrimp, and save in any way they can.

A closer look at the mayor’s proposed budget reveals that one department seems to have avoided the mayor’s red pen, even going as far as to 

 over the next two years: The Denver Fire Department.

Chief Desmond Fulton agreed to sit down with City Cast Denver for a 

 to answer some of the tough questions Denverites have about his department.

Why the Fire Department’s Budget is Increasing

 propose a budget cut for the Denver Fire Department in 2026, the proposed budget for operations and administration next year is actually up — from $156,821,121 appropriated in 2025 to $158,081,466 requested for 2026.

Why? “Raises,” Fulton explained, citing statistics on how dangerous the firefighting profession is and how the trauma of a career providing emergency services can affect a person. He also says he did propose some cuts to help address the shortfall, but not enough to offset the costs of raises. Denver Firefighters Local 858 

 this past spring and won 10% raises for firefighters to be implemented over the next two years.

In similar economic situations, former mayors Michael Hancock and John Hickenlooper asked unions to delay such raises in order to avoid layoffs. But Fulton says he doesn’t remember if Johnston asked about a delay. Instead, Fulton says the mayor asked: “‘What's realistic for you guys as far as givebacks and what can we reduce?’ And my answer was very, very clear. 

We can't reduce the way we respond, we can't reduce the way we staff, but as the leader of the organization, I will take it upon myself to find ways that we could be better.” 

Fulton says the Fire Department did cut staff and is going into 2026 with one less division chief, which “has never been done before.”

CBS investigative reporter Brian Maass revealed

 that Chief Fulton and his top commanders were awarding themselves comp time for attending routine events, like retirement ceremonies and firefighter memorials, then cashing out those hours at the end of every year. Fulton himself reportedly took home about $42,000 in unused vacation days between 2021 and 2023 — on top of his $230,000 per year salary.

“We've changed the way we do business, and I take full responsibility,” Fulton says. 

He added that he stopped taking comp time for these routine job functions after the CBS report.

After an independent city-ordered investigation called the chief’s use of comp time “an organizational failing” and a “problematic practice,” the firefighters held 

 in Chief Fulton with 64% of them calling on him to resign.

“When that many people stated that they don't have confidence in you, it doesn't feel good, I'm not gonna lie,” he says. “But at the same time, you pick yourself up and you take a hard look in the mirror and [ask], how can I be better?”

Diversity — or Lack Thereof — in the Department

After the independent investigator’s report was published last year, Mayor Mike Johnston asked Fulton to repay some of the vacation time, but he did not ask Fulton to resign. “Chief Fulton has been a critical advocate for making sure our fire department looks like the community it serves, which is not always popular, but it is right,” Johnston wrote in his response to the investigator’s report.

Firefighters who spoke to City Cast Denver on the condition of anonymity say that the issue of diversity is less about racial tensions within the department, but around fitness standards. Likewise, Fulton says the Fire Department doesn’t have diversity quotas and doesn’t make exceptions to standards for new recruits, but he acknowledges that it takes effort to maintain the kind of diversity the department needs to be successful, especially when the recruiting process is so competitive.

He says they received over 1,000 applications for 24 open positions this year. “If you have 24 folks that are all college graduates and majored in psychology, we're probably not gonna be the best fire department we can be,” he says. 

“Diversity is diversity of thought, diversity of background.”

Fulton says the Fire Department even increased its fitness standards for new recruits recently to help narrow down the field. But that has exacerbated some tensions within the department, too. “We have a very defined fitness standard when we hire people. 

Unfortunately, we do not have something as specific with incumbents.”

Fulton also says the comp time revelations exacerbated tensions dating back to the early days of the pandemic, which revolved around that diversity of thought he mentioned.

 “Like the mandated vaccinations,” he says. “That was a very difficult time, not only for Denver as a city, but as a department and [for other departments] across the country that made that determination that people had to get vaccinated.”

“During that time, there were a lot of things that people felt were very political,” Fulton says. “And that was one of them.”

As much money as the Fire Department costs, Fulton says he’s finding ways to make money. Starting next year, the Fire Department is planning to offer conveyance technician services (i.e., elevator repairs) directly to building owners instead of third-party professionals, which the Fire Department oversees. 

“We’re not trying to take away from the work these private companies do,” he says. “We're augmenting that and we're helping to expedite this process.”

 that Denver Fire had responded to 3,481 calls about broken elevators since the beginning of 2024. But despite their regulatory responsibility, they had not once in the past five years enforced the legal requirement for elevator operators to have annual inspections from third-party reviewers.

“There are very few companies that are in the conveyance business,” Fulton explained, pointing to the increasing challenges for elevator repair companies posed by COVID and President Trump’s tariffs. “That made a really tough situation even more difficult,” he adds.

told CBS investigative reporter Brian Maass

 that the Fire Department was intentionally misleading the public and bringing inspections in-house as “a money grab” that will cost private inspection companies massive chunks of their business.

Does the Fire Department Deserve More from Denverites?

When ballots arrive in the mail, voters will face the decision to approve Mayor Johnston’s Vibrant Denver bond package, which would represent almost $1 billion in new debt to fund capital improvements across the city, including $75 million for a First Responder and Public Safety Training.

Fulton says the Fire Department’s current training facility is almost 40 years old and doesn’t have what his staff needs to train people to the best of their abilities. “Sports teams across the country have state-of-the-art facilities,” Fulton explains. “Because when they're recruiting people, they want them to walk in and go, ‘wow, I want a play here.’”

He says the new facility would also benefit current firefighters and serve as a resource for the community. “We host a youth leadership camp [every year for] boys and girls that are in elementary and junior high,” he says. “But the intent is for us to not only ensure that they have a week to expose themselves to leaders throughout the department and do really fun things, but it's also a chance for them to see the opportunity that's there, [to see] someone who looks like them, someone that made them smile and made them appreciate themselves on how they can be a firefighter.”

“So I really ask the voters to take a hard look at this,” he concludes. “I ask for their support because they deserve the best of the best — not that they don't have it now. Denver Fire is amazing. I think we're the best department in the country, but we want to ensure that we continue to be a state-of-the-art department.”

For more from Chief Desmond Fulton, listen to 

. You can also send us a text or leave us a voicemail at 720-500-5418.

5 big takeaways from our exclusive interview with the fire chief

An Exclusive Interview with Denver Fire Chief Desmond Fulton

After Years of Scandal, Turmoil, Fire Chief Fulton Finally Shares His Side of the Story: "We've Changed the Way We do Business"

What Denver celebrities, public figures and key citizens have to say about living here.

3 Questions With Denver Public Figures

3 Questions With

As more people join demonstrations to push back on President Trump’s immigration crackdown, tensions have been rising. Last week, 18 protesters were arrested after a confrontation with police, and one conservative talk show host was kicked in the back. But does that mean that overall, protests are getting more violent? 

 has been attending protests in Denver all year, and he caught his own alleged assault on video.

City Cast Denver podcast host Bree Davies spoke with the conservative radio personality about the kick, his self-described “gotcha”-style videos, the question of violence, and why, through it all, he says he still loves Denver.

Below is a rough transcript of the interview, which you can listen to 

 So you've been going to these anti-Trump protests all year in Denver, but on Tuesday night you had an experience that you captured on film that I'd love to hear from you about — can you just tell us what happened?

 happen? I've been to, as you mentioned, a lot of protests. I spent four days with Palestinian protestors at the DNC in Chicago. So I'm used to being in tense situations. In fact, I love it because like, that's the, that's the point where our public policy's debated, like right there on the streets,

 Yeah, face to face, on the streets. I love being in the midst of those situations. I've never had a problem. Sometimes people get a little handsy, right? They'll kind of bump into you and try to push something or get a little edgier and I just walk away. I'm not there to get into big confrontations with people. I'm literally in the middle of filming myself in the street at 14th and Broadway where there was a little bit of a breakoff protest from the main anti-ICE protest.

So the main [protest] with microphones and all that stuff was right there at the Capitol. And then just at the edge, [at] 14th and Broadway, there was like, a little more kind of Antifa oriented counter protest that was going on. And so I go down there and I'm just kind of in the midst of talking to everybody and, and then I stop and I'm filming myself and I got kicked in the back, um, really hard, kind of like a sucker punch/sucker kick type of thing out of nowhere — [I’m] not talking to anybody, no tense confrontations, nothing like that. And it, and it hit me and jarred me.

You can see it in the video where I almost fall down and turn around and then pursue the guy to get him on camera. 'Cause I wanna get his face. And to get a sense of who this is, and then let 'em know that that's not right. Um, and whether you're somebody like me who's a conservative activist or a progressive, um, you have the freedom to be able to film in the streets and should be able to do so without fear of getting hit. So yeah, confronted him, got him on video.

We generally have a sense of who it is that did that. I'm not gonna say who it is because the police are working through the investigations, but generally have a sense of who it is. We're pursuing charges. It's not something I really want to do. I sat in the parking lot of the DPD yesterday going like, Ugh, why are you doing this.

 Yeah, well, I don't want to. Right, right. And because you kick off a really big system when you do that, right, and now I'm gonna be tied to this person forever, and I'm generally a pretty forgiving person. I just wanna move on with my life and have other things to do. I want to do other things rather than this.

But I like going to these events and I think it's important to send a message that, if you do something like that, if you're going to physically attack me, I am going to take it all the way. So you need to think twice about that. And look, I end up with people with middle fingers in my face all the time and curse words. That doesn't bother me. But once you cross the line and you're physically attacking people and hurting people, then you need to be held accountable, and I want other journalists and media personalities to be able to have that freedom to be down, even if you're at a conservative rally, like the March for Life. I joked — I saw, actually, I saw Heidi Beedle like thirty seconds before this all happened.

 [Who is a] journalist from Colorado Springs who has been on our show.

 [Yes, from the] Colorado Times Recorder. Heidi and I don't see eye to eye on anything, but I was joking with Heidi. It's like, hey Heidi, I see you at these March for Life protests, and then I know you feel a little uncomfortable. I'm down at the anti-ICE protest. I feel a little uncomfortable. But Heidi needs to be able to go to the March for Life and feel safe, too. So that message needs to be sent to anybody that's out there that you hit, you're gonna be taken all the way through the legal process.

 I wanna step back just for a second, because you said something about the protests where this happened. There was this main group, and then you said an offshoot that you identified as Antifa.

 All the way, all the way down. You just see the eyes. They tend to get a lot more animated. I've run into these folks in the past before and they're at a different level of, I would say, anger, rage, frustration than what you would say. Now, Antifa isn't like, you know, they don't necessarily wear membership identification, so it's hard to say clearly that those were Antifa, but that was the group that ended up marching up Broadway all the way to I-25, and then tried to engage up there, and that's where the unlawful orders were given.

So they tend to be a lot more active people that, and to their credit, I've run into them now multiple times. The Denver Socialists that I think are the ones that put on a lot of these protests, like they're the main organizing folks, they oftentimes will keep their own members in check because they understand.

And if you listen to the video, you hear that at the end, he goes to the perpetrator of the attack, “Don't don't engage him, don't talk to him. You're going to ruin our image.” I dunno if you caught that audio at the very end, “you're going to ruin our image.” I've run into that before where the organizers, the Denver Socialists I think, or the, uh, they, they wear red tend to work really hard to make sure that their message is the message that leads, and it's not distracted by things that are happening, like vandalism or violence. So to their credit, they tend to try to police their own people pretty well.

Okay. I find it interesting just because, when I hear Antifa, I just think antifascism and the anti-fascist movement. I would assume, I think you're probably talking about the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the PSL folks who probably are usually leading in red. Or the Democratic Socialists. I do wanna be clear, those are two different groups.

I mean, they all have similar ideologies, but it sounds like the group you're describing as Antifa is maybe, uh, you say like, more active, more physically confrontational. And that's who you followed.

 Yeah, that was the little subgroup that was on the side that I went to. I mean, they're half a block from each other, so it's not a big difference — but it was a notable difference.

 Why go towards those folks and not along with the other folks in red?

 Yeah, I covered both.I was there, kind of walking around all of it. So the fun, the funny thing about these protests is that they often times put somebody on me to follow me around and then they interrupt my interviews to get them. And they do this a little, like, “don't talk to this guy, don't talk to this guy.” Actually put out a video today about that 'cause it's kind of funny. Then I turn around and I try to get them to talk and it becomes this kind of little shtick. But um, no I try walk around and cover it all. And it's important for me to say this, I'm not a journalist, okay?

 Okay. I'm very clear about this. I'm a radio personality who has a career and conservative activism.

 You maybe could see why folks might not want their people to talk to you? I don't know. Not saying that we shouldn't be talking to each other, but…

 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

 I mean but I'm not, and it's important to distinguish me from an actual journalist. So I'm making videos. They're funny. They're little gotcha videos.

 Okay. So they're gotcha videos. Are you clear with people when you're talking to them? [Like] “I am not a journalist. I'm a conservative activist.”

 Yeah. If they ask, what I often ask them for is to tell me why they're out here, okay. I don't manipulate the interviews in the sense of, um, putting words in their mouths or editing it in a way that, um, would really make them look bad. From my perspective.

 I have to, I just have to disagree for a minute because from watching the videos, I could see [why] if I was in that group, [I’d be] urging folks not to talk to you because it does come off to me as edited to make people look stupid that are talking to you.

 Yeah, no — I disagree with that. I, what I do, and I do this on my show too, so I host Denver's top talk radio show and we have, uh, it's a call-in show. So people call in all the time. What we do is poke and prod around the edges of their policies.

So my interview to you is not necessarily to just get your perspective. I wanna challenge your thinking, too. So think of the girl for instance, that's saying, um. We, uh, about criminals. About the deportation of criminals, right? We're having a discussion. I don't know if you saw that video. We're having a discussion about the deportation of criminals.

I ask her about Laken Riley. “Do you know the name? Laken Riley?” And she doesn't. Okay. I would disagree that that's being edited in a way to make her look stupid, but it's very clear that she's not fully informed when it comes to policy issues. And that's an important message to get across that you know, you're dealing with people that are coming out to protest and they may not necessarily know all the policy nuances. And so I'm poking it probably the same way I would if you called into our radio show.

 But I've seen videos of you with conservatives at conservative rallies and you really, to me, they come off as softball questions to your friends versus poking and prodding people that you don't agree with.

 I, I would disagree because when I would like the March for Life, for instance, you're talking about those videos, the March for Life videos, I'll ask them, you know, questions about “when does life begin?” “Are you interfering with a woman's rights to choose?” Those types of things? So I'll ask, I'll ask questions around.

 “How do you feel about this rally that you're at?” That feels a little bit easier to me than “do you know about the Laken Riley case that led to this legislation?”

 And I guess I would characterize these [rallies] differently. I would call that an anti-abortion rally. You would call it a March for Life, [where] you asked one woman, like, “where does your joy come from?” I don't know if I've ever seen you ask someone you identify as antifa “where does your joy from?”

Yeah. Oh, I’d push back and say there's not a lot of joy there.

Last week, conservative talk radio host Jeff Hunt was downtown at an anti-ICE rally, where he says he was assaulted. He explains what happened and what he thinks about violence at protests

Conservative Talk Show Host Jeff Hunt on Getting Kicked at a Progressive Protest

Conservative Radio Jeff Hunt Has Been Making "Little Gotcha Videos" At Anti-Trump Protests. Then He Got Assaulted.

 store manager Shelbie Burroughs about how the apparel company is keeping the spirit of the West alive in Denver.

Our founder, Paul, was a Harvard grad from Texas and he went to work in the corporate world in finance, and ultimately decided that his passion was more centered around his love for Western culture and great boots. He felt like the world was missing a direct-to-consumer, authentic, handmade boot company, and he set out to make that happen. We were founded in 2015, and from then we've been expanding really quickly.

What’s Your Personal Passion for Boots?

I grew up in cowboy boots. My grandfather meant the world to me, and he was a true cowboy. To me, he embodied the spirit of the west. He was the hardest worker I knew, he was a rancher and a record-holding big game hunter, and he would wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning every day to go break up ice on the water troughs at his ranch before he'd go off to his second and third jobs to provide for his family. We had this tradition that every year on my birthday he would buy me a pair of real moccasins and a pair of real ostrich leather cowboy boots, and I loved that.

So, as I started looking into [Tecovas], I saw the ostrich boots online and that really felt exciting to me. It felt like a full-circle moment in a way. [It] felt like home.

Why is Tecovas the Right Place for Getting Into Western Wear?

Tecovas was founded on a love for the true spirit of the West and Western culture. You can come in and find something that works great, that feels really authentic for you and your personal style, and still connects you to that Western culture in your own way. We have something for everybody, whether you want an easy entryway into Western wear with a simple pair of boots or you want to come in and get outfitted head to toe.

Learn More About Tecovas

We spoke to Tecovas Denver store manager Shelbie Burroughs about how the apparel company is keeping the spirit of the West alive in Denver.

3 Questions With

After Years of Scandal, Turmoil, Fire Chief Fulton Finally Shares His Side of the Story: "We've Changed the Way We do Business"

Conservative Radio Jeff Hunt Has Been Making "Little Gotcha Videos" At Anti-Trump Protests. Then He Got Assaulted.

How Tecovas is Keeping Denver's Western Spirit Alive