In July, Copper Canyon Fire & Medical Authority began construction of a new fire station, to be located at 3675 Cherry Creek Road, across from the jail complex off of State Route 260. The hope is for the new facility to be opened by June, as COVID-19-related delays have slowed down construction. “In the Camp Verde area there’s a fair number of regions in the district that we don’t cover very well,” Copper Canyon Fire Chief Terry Keller said, pointing to the State Route 260 corridor as one of the main ones. “For us, the standard is 5 road miles from the fire station to be able to cover it.”
According to Keller, the ideal location for the station had been land off of Arena Del Loma, which would have allowed for direct access to the underserved Middle Verde area, but land issues with the Yavapai-Apache Nation nixed that location.
Keller also had pushed for the bridge over the Verde River at Coury Lane off of State Route 260 as part of the Verde Connect project, which would have allowed for easy transportation from the State Route 260 corridor to Middle Verde, but the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors ended that project this week.
CCFMA plans to purchase an additional fire engine and hire an additional nine employees — three already on the payroll — to staff the new station. One ambulance, and the associated staff, will be moved from the main CCFMA office in Camp Verde, rather than purchasing a new ambulance, though Keller clarified that both of the fire district’s two ambulances will likely be moving from station to station as the need arises.
“It’s adding to our capabilities, because normally when we run a fire, the minimum number of engines that will be dispatched to a fire is three,” Keller said. “It’s faster and simpler to dispatch an additional engine from a neighboring jurisdiction — more often than not the Verde Valley Fire District. … Adding another fire station and another fire engine will allow us to cover more of our calls with our own resources, instead of using neighboring districts.”
The total cost of the 10,500-square-foot building is expected to be $3.6 million. With property tax rates for the fire district already maxed out, the plan is to pay for it without any additional taxes. The district used funds in the capital reserves to purchase the land and is using a lease purchase process similar to a mortgage to finance construction. Staffing for at least the next few years is being covered by a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. According to Keller, whereas that grant would normally require significant matching funds from the fire district, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in federal financing, eliminating the matching requirements.
“The one great thing about this COVID this year is that because of COVID impacts the federal government was more benevolent than they used to be,” Keller said.
The building is being designed for eight dorms, even with only five to be staffed upon opening. According to Keller, the new station is part of a plan to deal with the future of the SR 260 corridor, which the Town of Camp Verde hopes to develop in coming years.
In the future, CCFMA hopes to also build a station off of Howards Road southwest of Camp Verde, in order to access the Verde Lakes area, which is also currently too distant from the main station.
