HFD History
The Highlands Fire District was created when the Kachina Village and Mountainaire Fire Districts merged in April of 1999. The Fire District joins the communities of Kachina Village, Forest Highlands, Mountainaire, the Lower Lake Mary Area, and Pine Del.
Kachina Village is located on the west side of Interstate 17 approximately six miles south of Flagstaff, Arizona. Originally developed as a vacation home community in 1965, Kachina Village has evolved into a suburb of Flagstaff primarily occupied by full-time residents.
In the Spring of 1971, a structure fire in Kachina Village destroyed a residence. As a result, a committee was formed to organize a fire department. Fred Tyron was the only resident with fire training, so he was asked to become the first Fire Chief. With the help of several concerned citizens, the Kachina Village Volunteer Fire Company was established. By July of 1972, a tax supported fire district was approved by voters and the Coconino County Board of Supervisors. 
The Department’s first vehicle was a 1947 Ford Truck donated by the village’s developer. Not long after 1947 Mack Engine was purchased. Construction on the first firehouse began in 1975. During the District’s meager beginnings, many bake sales, donations, and volunteer labor enabled the completion of Station 1. The fire station was remodeled in 1990 to better accommodate the 24 hour emergency service center it had grown to become.
Construction on Station 2 on the north side of Kachina Village broke ground in 1981. Volunteers responded from this station until the Fuels Management Team occupied the station in 2003. The mission of the Bear Jaws Fuels Module is to help mitigate the risk of wildfire by performing property assessments and reducing dangerous fuels.
In 1988 the newly developed Forest Highlands community was annexed into the Kachina Village Fire District. Forest Highlands is an exclusive golf community located to the northwest of Kachina Village. It is comprised predominantly of vacation homes with few full-time residents. The Forest Highlands Home Owner Association has implemented numerous strategies to reduce the risk of fire, and the community became one of fthe first four Firewise communities in Arizona.
Mountainaire is located directly east of Kachina Village and Interstate 17. The community was also designed as a vacation retreat in the 1960s, but has evolved into a year-round residential area. The Mountainaire Volunteer Fire Department organized in the later 1960s with ground-breaking for the first fire station in 1974. The residents of Mountainaire voted to establish a fire district in 1976. Throughout the history of the Kachina Village and Mountainaire Fire Districts, cooperation across their boundaries was important to the success of each department.
The merger of Kachina Village and Mountainaire Fire Districts had been a topic of discussion in the 1990s. The discussion gathered momentum when Chief Brady of Mountainaire FD resigned, and Chief Pond of Kachina Village FD stepped in to serve an interim assignment as Fire Chief. After two years in this dual capacity, the next logical step was to merge the districts. Voters approved the merger in 1999.
In more recent history, at the request of residents, Highlands Fire District expanded its boundaries to include property in the Lower Lake Mary Area. The District began providing emergency service in September of 2005. Station 24 was established in a resident’s steel framed workshop, which was offered to house a small engine and volunteer fire company.
Pine-Del Estates located to the north of Forest Highlands, originally organized a fire district and contracted with the City of Flagstaff for fire protection. Pine Del and Highlands Fire Districts merged in December of 2005. In 2008 additional property owners along Highlway 89A requested the District amend its boundaries to include their property. The Fire Board welcomed them to the District.
In the Spring of 2010, the residents of the Highlands Fire District as well as travelers along Interstate 17 will have the benefit of a new fire station and community room.The new Fire Station 23 will be relocated to the corner of Mountainaire Road & Old Munds Highlway, just 1/2 mile of of Interstate 17. An Interagency Fuels Management Module will occupy the old Station 23, which will be renamed Station 22.
Under the management of Chief Pond and direction of the Highlands Fire Board, the District has taken a leadership position in the formation of partnerships in Northern Arizona. Collaboration assists in combining resources, provides opportunity to address similar issues, and improves tactical communications among emergency service providers. The District supports the concept of regionalization to ultimately improve emergency services provided in the Greater Flagstaff Area.
Upon Chief Pond's retirement after 30 years of service, Chief Mike Bradley has taken the helm. The District continues to seek opportunities to form partnerships with local agencies to better provide emergency services in Northern Arizona.
