Poudre Fire Authority Cpt. Charles Albrandt cared deeply about safety.
“He was so fanatical about safety, about his team, about making sure everybody went home,” said Brooke Colaizzi, his daughter. “I think that was really the mark of his professionalism. Everybody loved working with him because they knew he had their backs.”
He cared so deeply for the safety of himself and others that it was even more of a shock that, after 42 years with PFA, occupational cancer took his life in four months. In April 2019, about four years after he retired from the fire service, he was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. He died that July.
Pancreatic cancer is presumed to be an occupational illness in Colorado, according to PFA, and Albrandt's death is considered a line-of-duty death.