Crown King Fire District

Download a copy of the current CKFD Newsletter here.                

Dear Crown King Resident:

After many years of arduous work PNF has approved us to start prepping the site for our new station. We started by cutting down several trees and removing the stumps; along with large boulders and rocks on site. The water, sewer, and electrical have been identified and capped for the construction phase. We have hired an architect and will be submitting plans to the County Planning Department and PNF for approval next month.

None of this would have been possible without the community support we have received. Several years ago, we asked for your help and the bond for $1,000,000 dollars was passed with an overwhelming majority of 75 to 5 in favor of this project. Each year we levy approximately $200,000 dollars and the next year it’s paid back; this way we don’t incur debt. After the first year we realized this this tax burden was significant to some residents, so we extended the payback period to two years. With these results we went to our government partners, asked for matching funds and received a grant from Senator Kelly’s office for $900,000 dollars. We also continue to apply for additional funding that will enable us to purchase new trucks and equipment that will serve our community well into the future.

This project was spearheaded by an inspection of our operations for the ISO rating or also referred to as a fire score. Our score at that time was at an 8 but due to the changes we have implemented from their recommendations it was reduced to a 5 which is unprecedented for a department of our size. This score is used by insurance companies to determine your homeowners’ rate along with other factors. For example: Mayer has an ISO score of 4 this is our goal for the next inspection. While we understand that our score is just one part of determining your insurance rate it is also the responsibility of CKFD to provide the best service for the community given the resources we have. Some homeowners have received rebate checks or reduced rates while others have seen an increase in rates. Our goal is to just maintain what we have and continue the work needed that will ensure our community is able to secure insurance. For example: Blue Ridge Fire District – Coconino County – has an ISO rating of 3 yet their community is seeing mass cancellations and an average increase of 30% on their homeowners’ rates. While we understand location plays a major factor for rates/increases this is not what we want for our community. It’s extremely important that each homeowner fire wise their property. This could not only save your own home but maybe your neighbors and possibly the rest of town. Working together is what makes this a great place to live and visit.

Several years ago; CKFD made major changes to our organization. After operating at a loss for many years we were forced to send a letter to Yavapai County and request help. One of the ideas suggested was to enter an IGA – Inter Governmental Agreement – with Mayer for a shared Fire Chief. At that point we also joined the Yavapai County Consortium with 5 other departments. This gave us the ability to professionally train our work force and send the trucks we have out on wildland fire assignments. To date we have brought in an additional $300,000 dollars from this decision. In fact, Captain Blair is on assignment in California right now earning the department money. Many residents don’t realize the fact that we don’t even bring in enough tax revenue to make pay payroll for the year. We relied on the revenue from fund-raising events in the past just to barely pay our staff. But we’re extremely proud of the fact that for the last two years we used no fund-raising money for operations and finished out the last two fiscal years in the black; with an average of $40,000 dollars carry over.

At that time, we also formed the CKFD Auxiliary, a 501c which controls all the fund-raising proceeds. This was to ensure that any money raised from these events stayed in our community. The CKFD Auxiliary has purchased several items to date for the department: the utility truck and plow, the new off-road ambulance, new appliances for our crew quarters, an ice machine and power washer; just to name a few. The CKFD Auxiliary is managed under a separate board of volunteers and all purchases are voted on at the request of CKFD. The dinner dance – auction is run by community volunteers and the CKFD Auxiliary which has always been our main fund raiser. We continue to see overwhelming community support year after year from this event. This is what sets us apart from other small communities.

In summation, many changes have occurred during the last couple of years to your fire department.
For example, last year many of us thought the town was becoming a bear sanctuary. This didn’t go unnoticed by us or other county and state officials. Our county supervisor – James Gregory – stepped up and donated the two trash trailers we currently operate. The main idea was to get the kitchen trash away from your property which in turn would force the bears to look elsewhere for food. Unfortunately, we had residents feeding the bears which resulted in one being caught and euthanized; this is not the outcome we want to happen. This is a volunteer operation driven by donations from the community for our residents. Our motto is “if the bear wants it, we want it” not your car parts or construction debris. A volunteer – Mark Nisbet – takes one trailer down a week and we were lucky enough to have a substantial donation from the Saloon Owner’s early on which will last several months for dumping fees. Once again, members of our community coming together for the benefit of everyone. We look forward to your continued support and hopefully this time next year we will have the dinner dance – auction at our new station.