An attempt by Denver firefighters to break up with the statewide firefighters’ union landed in court Monday after the state union refused to let them go.

Denver Fire Fighters Local 858, a union that represents firefighters in Denver, Englewood, Glendale, Sheridan and Skyline, has been trying to disaffiliate from Colorado’s statewide firefighters union since late 2024, but the state and international unions have refused to recognize the local chapter’s departure, according to the lawsuit filed in Denver District Court on Monday.

Colorado Professional Fire Fighters, the statewide union, says the local chapter owes nearly $389,000 in unpaid dues, according to the lawsuit. Denver Fire Fighters Local 858 stopped paying dues to the statewide union in September 2024, when its executive board voted to pause payments in light of growing concern that the statewide union wasn’t providing enough value to justify the payments, according to the complaint.

In November 2024, the local union’s executive board voted to disaffiliate from the statewide union. That initial vote was followed by two membership votes: one in March 2025 in which 59% of members who voted agreed to disaffiliate, and another in March 2026 in which 70% of members who voted opted to forfeit the local union’s charter with the state union.

Despite those votes, Colorado Professional Fire Fighters has refused to accept that separation, according to the complaint.

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The lawsuit names both the statewide union and the International Association of Fire Fighters — a union that represents firefighters in the U.S. and Canada — as defendants in the case. The international union has refused to recognize Denver Fire Fighters Local 858’s separation because the local union did not follow the international union’s procedures for leaving, according to the complaint.

The local union argues both that the union was not obligated to follow the regulations and that, if it were required to follow the regulations, it did so.

Tim Burn, a spokesman for the International Association of Fire Fighters, said in a statement Tuesday that the union had hoped to handle the dispute internally.

“The IAFF has internal processes to democratically address and resolve the concerns of any member or local affiliate,” the statement said. “Those internal processes, including charges of misconduct against several Executive Board members of Local 858, are still pending. We are disappointed that they have instead attempted to bypass the union’s constitution and by-laws with the support of an anti-union law firm largely funded by the Koch Foundation.”

Representatives of Colorado Professional Fire Fighters did not return a request for comment Tuesday.

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