Arizona's Fire Departments
Arizona’s fire departments started forming while the area was still a territory. Early days of firefighting were largely done by residents rushing to help their neighbors with water bucket brigades trying, almost always unsuccessfully, to save houses or businesses.
In 1865, Wickenburg formed the first formal fire department to protect the growing mining town from the constant threat of fire. The next fire departments did not form until 1881 in Tombstone and Tucson. After that, fire departments developed quite rapidly as specific methods of firefighting were instituted. These included using hand-pulled fire wagons with water tanks and hoses and then horse-drawn apparatus with water or chemicals that were now being manufactured. By the time Arizona gained statehood in 1912, fourteen major towns had an official fire department. Today, there are over 140 fire districts and roughly 35 municipal fire departments.
Carol A. Schumacher is the chairperson for Arizona’s Queen Valley Fire District Board of Directors. She is also president of the Queen Valley Historical Society and authored Superior and Queen Valley with Arcadia Publishing. She visited every fire department in this book to research the history and gather photographs of these heroic firefighters. Chief Cecil Fendley, with the Queen Valley Fire District, is the longest-serving fire chief in Arizona, with 38 years of experience as of 2025.
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Arizona’s fire departments started forming while the area was still a territory. Early days of firefighting were largely done by residents rushing to help their neighbors with water bucket brigades trying, almost always unsuccessfully, to save houses or businesses.
In 1865, Wickenburg formed the first formal fire department to protect the growing mining town from the constant threat of fire. The next fire departments did not form until 1881 in Tombstone and Tucson. After that, fire departments developed quite rapidly as specific methods of firefighting were instituted. These included using hand-pulled fire wagons with water tanks and hoses and then horse-drawn apparatus with water or chemicals that were now being manufactured. By the time Arizona gained statehood in 1912, fourteen major towns had an official fire department. Today, there are over 140 fire districts and roughly 35 municipal fire departments.
Carol A. Schumacher is the chairperson for Arizona’s Queen Valley Fire District Board of Directors. She is also president of the Queen Valley Historical Society and authored Superior and Queen Valley with Arcadia Publishing. She visited every fire department in this book to research the history and gather photographs of these heroic firefighters. Chief Cecil Fendley, with the Queen Valley Fire District, is the longest-serving fire chief in Arizona, with 38 years of experience as of 2025.
