Sun City Fire Department

Discussion in 'Sun City New Members' started by Sun City AZ Fire Chief, Sep 12, 2013.

  1. Good morning, :cheerful:

    I just recently discovered the Talk of Sun City forum and have enjoyed lurking around (not a bad thing!) and getting up to speed on your discussions. I'd like to introduce you to the Sun City Fire Department and myself. I'm always available to answer questions about the district and this fantastic community.

    I came to work for the fire district in 1987. After graduating high school (Deer Valley High in Glendale, AZ) I pursued my Emergency Medical Technician (E.M.T. Basic) certification from Mesa Community College and began work on my associates degree in fire science at Glendale Community College. Eventually I went on to graduate with top honors from Arizona State University with a Bachelors of Science in Fire Service Management. I've held every position in the Sun City Fire Department starting out as a reserve firefighter in 1987, a full-time firefighter E.M.T in 1989, I was promoted to Engineer/Paramedic in 1990 and spent many years driving fire trucks and taking care of patients in that capacity. In 2001 I promoted to Captain/Paramedic and managed a fire crew for a few years before promoting to Battalion Chief/Training Officer in 2006, and Assistant Chief in 2007. I was appointed by the elected fire board of directors to the Fire Chiefs position in June of 2009 as our former fire chief of many years retired.

    You can find a recent interview about myself, Sun City Fire and our fantastic community at KTAR Radio.

    The Fire District

    Fire protection for Sun City began in the early 1960's when the Del E. Webb Corporation first began building homes. In those early years each homeowner interested in having fire protection service would enter into an annual "subscription" with a local fire protection company and pay that company a fee based on property values. This subscription entitled the property owner to unlimited fire protection and emergency service protection. Non-subscribers were assessed service fees based on hourly manpower and fire apparatus charges as well as a base service charge. Limited first aid service was also available from the fire protection company.

    On June 23, 1966 the Sun City Fire District was established under Arizona law (Title 48, Chapter 5) after an affirmative vote by the electors of Sun City and an order by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. The original district, which covered Sun City only south of Grand Avenue, has since been enlarged by five separate annexations to include all areas from Olive Avenue on the south to Beardsley Road on the north. Under fire district law, a board of citizens is elected to govern the district. The board elected in 1966 entered into a master contract with the private fire protection company to cover the entire community. This eliminated the fire subscription fee program.

    The largest and most destructive fire in Sun City occurred on February 15, 1972. The Lakes Club on Thunderbird Boulevard was nearing completion when a plumber using a blowtorch accidentally ignited combustible materials within a wall. The fire traveled within the wall spreading to the attic and went unnoticed for a period of time. The sprinkler system was not yet completed and was ineffective in controlling the fire. The local fire equipment and mutual aid companies from the surrounding area could do little to save the building. The fire loss was set at $1,000,000.

    Fire district board members were concerned after the Lakes Club fire and reviewed the fire protection program, manpower, apparatus and fire station locations provided by the private contractor. This review led the Fire Board to take the following actions.

    The district purchased two pumpers each capable of large volumes of water (1250 & 1500 gallons per minute respectively) in late 1972.
    The district, with the support of the Del Webb Corp., opened a fire station at 99th Avenue & Bell Road in 1973.
    The district purchased a 100 ft. Aerial truck in 1975.
    The district, again with the support of the Del Webb Corp., opened a second station at 99th Avenue & Sun City Boulevard in late September 1975.
    The district purchased a third pumper in early 1976.
    These actions placed the district in the position of owning all the firefighting equipment and stations necessary to operate their own department excluding personnel. A contract was maintained by the district with the private fire protection company to furnish manpower and management services until 1989.

    On September 16, 1988 the Sun City Fire District Board voted to complete the last phase of operating its own fire department by hiring their won personnel. At 8:00a.m. on January 1, 1989 firefighters reported to duty for the first time as direct employees of the fire district. On this date the Sun City Fire District also began providing emergency services to the Town on Youngtown and the Youngtown Police Department provided 9-1-1 dispatch services to Sun City, both under separate contracts.

    On January 10, 1990 the Sun City Fire Department joined a consortium of fire departments and entered into an automatic aid program with Phoenix, Glendale, Peoria, Tempe, Tolleson, Laveen and Daisy Mountain. Under automatic aid, dispatching computers select the closest available fire, rescue and or paramedic units without regard of jurisdictional boundaries. Today the automatic aid consortium consists of 26 departments in the Phoenix area. Participating in automatic aid reduced average response times to less than four minutes.

    1990 also marked the beginning of a fire department based paramedic program. With fire stations geographically distributed throughout the community, a fire department paramedic response averages only 3.45 minutes.

    The Sun City Fire District itself was formed on June 16, 1966 and is one of the busiest of the 150 fire districts in Arizona. In 2012 we responded to 12,000 calls for assistance.

    Our Challenge in 2013

    Needless to say, I've been at the helm of the fire district through some very trying times financially. During this time the fire district employee pool and our response capabilities have unfortunately decreased because of the economic recession and decreased property values. We have also reduced the fire district budget by some two-million dollars since 2009 and have paid off all of our long term debt. Currently we are struggling to maintain adequate staffing levels and emergency response to the community. We've recently been forced to reduce our response in the community from four full-time apparatus to three full-time and one 40hr/week truck in order to reduce personnel costs.

    A new non-profit auxiliary was formed earlier this year. The Sun City Fire District Auxiliary's (SCFDA) purpose is to provide financial support to the fire district and it's important community based mission and programs. Fund raising thermometers are going up at all the fire stations soon!

    I'll keep my eye out for any questions from the forums.

    Sorry for the really long post. More information can be found on our websites at www.suncityfire.com and the auxiliary accepts secure donations at www.scfda.org.

    Respectfully protecting the communities of Sun City, Youngtown and Citrus Point,

    Jim Haner, Fire Chief
    Sun City Fire Department
     
  2. Fiona

    Fiona New Member

    Thank you so much for your great service to our community.
     
  3. Thank you so much Fiona. I've worked in Sun City for my entire adult life having joined the fire department when I was only 18 years old! This community means so much more to me than just being a place to go to work. I'm proud to be here and proud to be protecting you and your homes in this wonderful community.

    My job is so much more than public safety, I see my job as being an ambassador for the community and I take every opportunity to share with folks the benefits of living in Sun City.

    Best to you and yours, ~jim
     
  4. Fiona

    Fiona New Member

    In just about 4 years you too can have a rec card lol.
     
  5. Fairness

    Fairness New Member

    Chief,
    Thanks for joining the forum. I learned more about the fire department in five minutes reading your post than I knew from all the years of living here. Come back often to update us and to remind us of how we can help the fire department. Our fire fighter/rescue personnel are held in high regard by an overwhelming majority of our residents, and rightfully so!
     
  6. Thank you for the warm welcome 'Fairness', I'm glad that I found the forum and promise not to be a stranger! ~jim
     
  7. Emily, that would be fantastic if we could have our own section like the Posse! Is the moderator reading this? :encouragement: ~jim
     
  8. pegmih

    pegmih Well-Known Member

    lock box

    Thank you for all you do.

    I say a little prayer when I see one of your trucks go by.

    I really appreciate the Lock Box service.
     
  9. pegmih

    pegmih Well-Known Member

    Emily, I was going to suggest the same thing.

    Jim, I'm sure moderator is reading but I will put a bug in their ear anyway.
     
  10. pegmih

    pegmih Well-Known Member

    Jim,

    You said
    "The Sun City Fire District itself was formed on June 16, 1966 and is one of the busiest of the 150 fire districts in Arizona."

    I wonder why that is. Listed by #of times, what are the major calls?
     
  11. Thank you 'pegmih', for the thanks and the prayers. The lock box program is very popular in the community. I wonder how many front doors and windows we have been able to save by having residential lock boxes available?

    Anyone that is interested in having a residential lock box installed on your home can contact SCFD headquarters for more information. 623-974-2321 or on the website at www.suncityfire.com. $60 installed by one of our trained volunteers. We don't make any money on this we just do this at cost with our volunteers.

    Only the fire department can access the house key that is locked away inside the lock box. Our keys are also locked inside a lock box that is attached to the fire truck. We are authorized to use these keys only in emergency situations where you are in need of assistance but are unable to unlock the door for us.
     
  12. Hi 'pegmih' and thanks for the question. We are one of the busiest fire districts in the state as well as one of the busiest departments in the valley. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, if you look at most of the fire districts in the state they are comprised of small rural departments that serve sparse populations in remote areas. We are located in a fairly dense urban area or suburban area if you prefer and simply have more customers to serve. The second biggest reason for our large volume of calls is simply put, the demographics of our community. The Sun City Fire Department is the primary emergency medical provider in the community. We kept very busy responding to some 8,000 medical calls in 2012. More information on our monthly call statistics can be found on our website. This is a shortcut to our Dec 2012 statistics.

    Thanks again for your question. :smile-new:

    ~Chief Jim

    The fire department board of directors meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 9:30 AM in our community room at fire administration (99th Ave/Union Hills).
     
  13. pegmih

    pegmih Well-Known Member

    Thank you for the info.
    I found the statistics to be very interesting.
     
  14. DDArm

    DDArm Member

    Thank you for all you and all the other stations do for us Sun City residents.
     
  15. aggie

    aggie Well-Known Member

    Wouldn't it be wonderful if all the organizations that don't pay any fire district taxes donated the amount they would be assessed??? Churches, many of the senior retirement centers(Royal Oaks, Lifestream, Sun Valley Lodge etc.), thrift shops, and even Banner isn't assessed anything toward the fire district yet the fire department responds to all calls.

    There would be no shortage in funds if all organizations paid their fair share toward medical and emergency services.
     
  16. aggie

    aggie Well-Known Member

    It's the giant loophole for non-profit organizations. You can go to the Maricopa County Assessor's site and search different organizations to see if they pay any fire district tax or for that matter any property tax at all. Some organizations do donate funds to the fire department to recognize their dedication to respond to all emergencies in the district.
     
  17. Cynthia

    Cynthia Well-Known Member

    It is a loophole because most nonprofits do make a profit. Some church's make big profits and are not required to show any community benefit. Most other nonprofits need to show benefit to the community but it can be quite a soft benefit. Not as important as what the fire dept does.
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2015
  18. Rusco

    Rusco New Member

    Can you imagine any other community service more vital than this? I'm a firm believer is user fees but in this case it would be wise to pay a fee before needed use. I am not yet a member of the community but I assure you if that were to happen this would be a "fee" I would pay happily and as a NUMBER ONE PRIORITY. SC residents pay $460 to play...what's fire protection and emergency services worth to you?

    I wonder if it would also be wise to make contributions anonymous? I would not want the fire district to be accused of responding to some calls faster/better than others because some give and some do not. You would be amazed at the accusations that can come without basis. While we call on fire fighters and emergency personnel to protect us we should also protect them from any such accusations.
     
  19. aggie

    aggie Well-Known Member

    I guess the point is that this year my property taxes include $180 for the Sun City Fire District which is roughly 1/3 of my tax bill. There are many properties in the SC Fire District that are tax exempt and pay no taxes yet use emergency services.

    Donations to the Fire Department are great but there needs to be a great deal more done in the structure of how they are funded and how emergency services are billed to users.
     

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