Number Seven in our Series: Fire Protection and Fire Districts
Tucson is deceptive in some ways. The actual City of Tucson is maybe only half of what most people consider to be “Tucson.” There’s Oro Valley, and Marana, and Vail, and the foothills, and other rural areas that technically aren’t within city limits, but are considered the Greater Tucson area.
Outside of city limits, the Tucson Fire Department probably isn’t going to be the one to come put out the fires at your house. So who do you call?
Depends on where you live!
Many areas have fire districts, in which residents are levied a secondary tax with their property taxes to pay for fire protection - actually, every Pima County homeowner will pay a fire district assistance tax, but those living in the fire districts pay a higher amount for their specific fire district. Other areas are protected by an annual subscription with fire protection service providers.
- Rural Metro is a big provider for the Northwest and in the foothills in the North - but be careful! Some of those areas your fire protection is included in your taxes and some you have to pay for an annual subscription. You can check your zip code at the Rural Metro website.
- There’s also the Northwest Fire District, in the, duh, Northwest…
- Drexel Heights Fire District is in the Southwest
- Golder Ranch Fire District is up Northwest too, and is taking over coverage of Oro Valley in a phased approach
- In the Far South and the Southeast is the Corona de Tucson Fire District
- Also in the Vail area is the Rincon Valley Fire District
- Far West would be Picture Rocks Fire District, who doesn’t appear to have a website, but I found a mailing address, so you can send a postcard to them after your house burns down, I guess.
There are 17-some fire districts in the area. Those are the larger ones, and some districts are just Rural Metro under a group subscription name.
Hopefully, the fire trucks don’t come to your house on tow trucks, like this one.
