By Noah Cullen | Pinal Central
SAN TAN VALLEY — A firefighters union supported the incorporation of San Tan Valley into a city and suggested the private fire department currently serving the area, Rural Metro Fire, is likely to negotiate a contract with the new city if it forms. A RMF spokesperson said there is no plan yet set in stone.
That potential contract, however, between RMF and the potential city of San Tan Valley, an unincorporated area now with around 100,000 residents, may come in the future if residents vote to incorporate on Aug. 5 and then are tasked with deciding how to run their fire and police departments.
Those questions would be among many if the vote passes on Aug. 5, including electing a council and mayor.
A spokesperson for RMF, Shawn Gilleland, said, “I don’t believe the intention of that was to say that there’s a plan — we’ve discussed with them options. Our firefighters would love to be the fire department for San Tan Valley if that’s what the people chose. They love working there, a lot of them actually live in the communities and are raising families in the communities, so they’re just as rooted there as anybody else.”
