Firegeezer notes:  Yesterday I neglected to post the Seligman FD website link until later that evening.  If you missed it, it is HERE.

Also, in the recent past some people have posted the URL for the Bridge Canyon VFD website.  I am not going to do that because when I last went to it my anti-virus program went into a high-speed tap dance while the site was trying to download a malware program and a bunch of other garbage.  Anything on there that is worth exploring I’ll try and tell you about or transfer screen caps.

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How To Start Your Own Fire Dept. in Arizona

Out in the vast spaces of the western states where some counties are larger than many of the eastern states, there is still a gap in the laws governing the territory when it comes to fire departments.  The state of Arizona does not have any requirements that need to be met concerning organized fire protection with the exception of wildfire control and the state OSHA offices.

Yavapai County, in turn, has chosen to stay out of the fire protection needs altogether.  They are not required to provide any fire protection anywhere in the county, and they elect to keep it that way.  Communities, however, can establish their own legal Fire Protection District and collect a property tax to pay for it.  But these fire protection districts are delineated by specific boundaries.  Anybody who is outside the boundary and calls the fire department will be charged a state-mandated fee for the service.  Such fees as well as the real estate tax go directly to the state.

These fees are eventually returned to the fire department in the way of payments for responding to state-owned property, such as a school, or by responding to a wildfire.  Most of the Seligman FD’s income is from these state payments since there are a large number of lightning-generated brush fires in the area.  Go to the Seligman FD website and click on the Fire Coverage Areas link (HERE) to get a more complete description of how the tax and subscription service works out there.

Knowing that there are many people in the outlying areas that are not within the Seligman fire protection district, Frederick Cross saw an economic opportunity by creating his own private fire department and running calls to unprotected areas where he could hopefully charge for his services.

First he had to get some basic equipment, such as a fire engine and the necessary tools.  Nobody knows where he got his fire engine from, but he went on the fire forums and started begging for equipment donations.  And in order to play on the sympathy and good will of the donors, he began his deceptions.

we can DEFINATELY use equipment…and we will pay shipping to send it.
We are a Independent run Company with hardly no budget. :-O
You may visit our website at: http://www.fire-ems.net/firedept/view/SeligmanAZ/
What we mainly need is 2 1/2″hose (about 8 sections),a good used set of jaws(they can be older ones),a droptank for our tanker cuz we have no hydrants or water supply in the subdevelopment,and various other small things but this is just an example.

Donna C
Fire Chief
Bridge Canyon VFD

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Hi (XXXX)…We will take the 2 1/2″ hose,the 2 1/2″ nozzle and the SCBA air filler…we have NOTHING at all to fill our SCBAS…we hafta take those to a diving shop when we can to get those refilled.
As for the hose,that 2 1/2″ is what were looking for.Were pretty well set upon the 1 1/2,the 1″ and the 3/4″ booster lines.The 6″ we cant use unless it has 2 1/2″ reduced couplings(our pumper only has a 2 1/2″ suction outlet.Email me at don@tabletoptelephone or call us at the number on our website.If no answer just leave a message becuase were not there all the time…were not a “manned” station.

Thanks a billion,

Donna C
Fire Chief
Bridge Canyon VFD

Firegeezer will make no attempt to explain the existence of a “diving shop” in the Arizona desert.  But tomorrow we will introduce you to the method of dispatching out there and Frederick’s attempts to circumvent it.

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