Rural fire districts tell committee staffing, ambulance revenue shortfalls threaten service

Fire district leaders, chiefs and the Professional Firefighters of Arizona told the House Ad Hoc Committee on Fire Preparedness that many rural districts are underfunded and struggle to staff engines, keep equipment safe and maintain response times.

Tom Crotta of the Professional Firefighters of Arizona and Dan Freiberg, association president, described statewide impacts: "Fire district funding in the state of Arizona has put our firefighters in a position where they can't really effectively serve their communities," Freiberg said, noting mandatory overtime, fatigue and recruitment pressures that push experienced firefighters toward higher-paying municipal jobs. Freiberg said the union represents about 9,000 firefighters statewide.

Several chiefs gave local examples. Randy Chevalier, fire chief of Timber Mesa Fire Medical District, described a 10,000-square-foot structure fire in Lakeside that exhausted mutual-aid resources across the region and required a type-1 helicopter. "We completely tapped out the mountain," he said, describing one-day depletion of neighboring districts and the subsequent lack of local capacity.

Payson Fire Chief Dave Stobbe described how shrinking volunteer forces and budget constraints forced the Town of Payson to absorb emergency coverage from a nearby failing fire district and now the town subsidizes broader rural coverage. He and others urged lasting funding solutions rather than short-term grants. Stobbe also estimated a $5 million appropriation would fund a fuels-management and response crew for five years in his area.

Chiefs and union leaders pressed legislators to address statutory and structural funding barriers including the effects of Proposition 117 and narrow local tax bases. They urged the legislature to consider targeted appropriations and longer-term funding formulas for rural fire districts so local districts can hire personnel, replace aging apparatus and sustain accreditation and response standards.

Committee members said they would pursue additional appropriations and continue stakeholder conversations. The chair noted multiple pending proposals and said lawmakers would reintroduce and press relevant bills in the next session.