Students in CSU’s Department of Design and Merchandising came to the aid of Colorado firefighters this spring, creating new uniforms that will differentiate them from police officers — whether they’re at the scene of an emergency or in the grocery store.
Alan Fletcher, chief of the Fairmount Fire Protection District in Golden, approached Associate Professor Juyeon Park about the need for a redesign last fall. The problem is not their firefighting turnout gear, which Park has been working to improve, but the similarities between their navy blue “Class B” uniforms and those that police wear. Confusion between the two has resulted in everything from gunmen taking shots at unarmed firefighters arriving at crime scenes to exasperated mothers warning their children to behave near a firefighter, lest they be sent to jail.
“When you go to a grocery store, sometimes people raise their hands and say, ‘I didn’t do it,’” Fletcher said.
