Fire districts face funding crisis, lawmakers seek solutions

• Fire districts face critical failure without alternative funding source • Firefighters are leaving districts for municipal level jobs • Lawmakers propose using private ambulance companies for rural EMS services

Firefighters told lawmakers this week that fire districts are on the brink of collapse without an alternative funding source.

Now, lawmakers are trying to gauge the state’s preparedness for wildfire events with a Fire Preparedness Committee House ad hoc committee.

Arizona utilizes more than 130 fire districts across the state to provide fire protection to residents within each taxing district. But their primary funding source, property taxes, has shifted to the point where officials no longer believe they can sustainably provide the critical emergency response services to r