Jackson County Fire District 3

Mr. William H. Anson is hired to replace Chief Lisenbee. Chief Anson had extensive experience in southern California with departments that had experienced rapid growth and expansion and had worked with both paid and volunteer personnel. The District was considerably under-equipped in apparatus and equipment to combat the increasing fire problems that existed. The Board of Directors recognized these deficiencies and undertook the task of bringing the District up to standard. The outcome was reduced fire insurance premiums and increased levels of fire protection.

The Land of Many Oaks Rural Fire Protection District (LOMO RFPD), a one square mile fire district located in Sams Valley was annexed into the District. The Board of Directors makes a determination to provide emergency medical services. A fundraising drive, led by Mr. Michael Burrill, General Manager of Eugene F. Burrill Lumber Co., was successful in raising approximately $15,000 for the acquisition of a multi-purpose vehicle for emergency medical calls and for incident command situations.

CPRFPD officially becomes Jackson County Fire District No. 3 (JCFD3) to better describe the areas being protected. It is the third fire district formed within Jackson County protecting approximately 140 square miles.

Funding from a Federal grant allows the District to construct a new White City station and Administrative Offices in White City across the street from the original station on Agate Road. The classroom is dedicated in the honor of Wes Claflin, a former Volunteer Fire Captain and school teacher.

The Board of Directors send personnel to the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center in Portland to be trained as Firefighter/EMT 4 (Paramedics). JCFD3 was the first fire department in southern Oregon to provide Paramedic services.

The third fire station (Dodge Bridge) is built by District personnel on land donated by Jim and Lois Wilson. This station, located at the intersection of Highway 234 and Rogue River Drive, is staffed by volunteers.

The Central Point station is demolished and a new station is built at the same location. This station continues to service the southern and western regions of the District.

The Sams Valley station is constructed to replace the existing Land of Many Oaks station and is staffed by volunteer personnel living on site in residential mobile homes.

A new maintenance facility is added to the White City station in 1986.  The facility is officially named in honor of Mr. Rupert R. Wilson, former Chief Mechanic, who had recently retired from the District after an extensive length of service as a career member, volunteer, and Board Director.

Property is purchased on Access Road near the City of Gold Hill for a future fire station. The location is selected because of its strategic location for response to the Sams Valley area, Interstate 5, Blackwell Road, and Old Stage Road towards Central Point and Jacksonville.

Fire Chief Anson retired in December of 1991 after 20 years of service with the District and over 35 years in the fire service. Assistant Chief/Fire Marshal Randall Iverson was hired as the new Fire Chief. He came to the District in 1980 with previous fire service experience in Oregon and California.

The City of Gold Hill contracts with JCFD3 for fire protection. One year later, the territory of the City is annexed to the District by a passing vote.

The fifth District fire station is built near Agate Lake following the successful annexation of that area.

The District enters into a five year contract with the City of Central Point to provide fire and EMS services for City residents. Ballot Measure 50 is passed by Oregon voters, changing the way property taxes are computed. The District gets a permanent tax rate of $3.1194 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The City of Eagle Point contracts with the District for fire and EMS response for city residents.  The City’s volunteer fire department merges with the District’s volunteer firefighter association. The sixth District fire station is constructed in Gold Hill on the Access Road land that the District purchased in 1989.

The residents within the cities of Central Point and Eagle Point both pass a measure to annex into the District for permanent fire and EMS protection. Funding now comes from property taxes instead of service contracts from the cities.

The District purchases land on Loto Street in the City of Eagle Point and builds the seventh fire station. The Veterans Administration Domiciliary in White City elects to close its fire department and transfers responsibility to JCFD3.

The Central Point station is remodeled and expanded. The District increased staffing by hiring 12 firefighters to meet increased service demands within the two cities. The White City Urban Renewal Agency funds and constructs a training center complex for the District on adjacent property. This project includes a large training area, five story tower, confined space rescue prop, and a warehouse.

The District purchases land on Table Rock Road between the White City and Central Point stations. The volunteer program is enhanced and a Volunteer Program Coordinator is hired to support and promote the volunteers. The District contracts with Jackson County Fire District 4 in Shady Cove to provide accounting services and financial and budgeting support. 

Fire Chief Randall P. Iverson retires after 25 years with the District.

Barry Hutchings is hired in May as the new Fire Chief.

The District completes construction of the new Administrative Office Building. Opening ceremonies are held on September 30, 2008

The remodel of the White City fire station gets underway. White City Urban Renewal Agency expires and the frozen assessed valuation from 1996-2008 comes back onto the District’s tax rolls.

Fire Chief David K. Hard leaves the District and former Fire Chief Randall P. Iverson is appointed as the Interim Fire Chief. The Southern Oregon Regional Communications Center is consolidated with Rogue Valley Consolidated Communications to form Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon (ECSO).  Fire District 3 secures a position on the seven-member Executive Board. The center is the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for all of Jackson County and dispatches all fire and law enforcement within the County. Daniel V. Petersen is hired as Fire Chief on October 11, 2010. The Strategic Plan is revised and focused on seven goals for the next 12 months. A new community-based vision is adopted by the Board of Directors: “To reduce or eliminate risk from fire, rescue, and medical events in the communities we serve.”

The District purchases two initial attack tenders to haul 2,000 gallons of water to fire scenes and be able to effectively make an initial attack on a structure fire. This design also provides greater capacity during urban interface fires. The District modifies the operational deployment method by responding with four engine companies, each led by a Captain. This reinforces a crew response to emergency incidents and improves the ability of the firefighters to solve problems in the community. Members of the community and the organization are invited to participate in the strategic planning process resulting in a new two-year plan for 2012-2014.  Chief Petersen begins making quarterly presentations to all cities inside the District on the progress of the plan. Student Firefighter positions are added to nine of the career companies (three each day), providing four-person engine companies. The District pays for the student firefighter’s fire science education and book costs.

The District converts the Volunteer Coordinator position to a Rural Communities Chief to oversee the response in the rural areas and to assist the community members in the reduction of risk.

The District celebrates 60 years of service with a ceremony on September 19, 2012. Past members from each decade shared their memories and highlighted significant District achievements. The first Fire Chief, Richard Krupp, is a speaker and describes his involvement in purchasing the first fire engine.

The District hires three additional firefighters, ensuring that four three-person career engines and a Battalion Chief are on duty each day. This is supplemented by four volunteer stations in the rural community.

The District contracts out vehicle maintenance to the City of Medford and expands the agreement with Rogue Community College.  RCC now stores their fire engine and equipment at the White City Training Facility and the majority of the hands on college training is occurring at this location.

The District experiences a 2.6 percent reduction in taxable assessed valuation on property due to the local economic recession. The District is able to sustain all services, the result of an increase in carryover and contingency established over the last few years in anticipation of this downturn.

The District improves its Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating from PPC 4 to a PPC 3, saving the community thousands of dollars in fire insurance premiums. A live fire burn building using shipping containers is placed in service at the training facility.

The first two of six manufactured homes are placed at volunteer stations as part of an improved resident firefighter program.  Student firefighters are placed at the Gold Hill station on a trial basis to improve response in that response zone.

The District engages in formal discussions with the City of Medford for cooperative services.

The District enters into an intergovernmental agreement with Jackson County Fire District 4 to provide fire chief services and chief officer response.  The Rural Communities Chief is assigned this responsibility.

The District experiences a rebound in the economy with a 2.7 percent increase in assessed value.

The District purchases and places in service two new structural fire engines from Pierce Manufacturing.

The District concludes the cooperative services study with the City of Medford. The District decides to remain a separate agency but improve cooperative service by responding the closest engine available, regardless of jurisdictional boundary. Additional training and fire rescue protocols will be developed to improve the performance.

The District initiates a strategic planning process that includes a District wide community survey.  Over 475 responses are received and presented to a group of community members for analysis. A new strategic plan is adopted for 2015-2017.

The District opens its eighth fire station and moves the second staffed engine company from the Central Point station to a temporary facility on Table Rock Road.

The District establishes its first Firewise community and receives access in cooperation with Oregon Department of Forestry for over $300,000 in grant funds to help prevent the spread of fire into the urban interface.

The District begins dispatching engines using Automatic Vehicle Locater (AVL) technology as part of the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) program. This change allows the closest District or Medford Fire-Rescue unit to be dispatched automatically.

The District receives a $250,000 grant from the Oregon State Fire Marshal to construct a fire simulation house at the White City Training Facility. This project generates support from the State Legislature, Oregon State Fire Marshal, and the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST).

The District begins the planning stages of a classroom facility on the White City campus in collaboration with Rogue Community College to house their fire science program.

The District receives a $150,000 grant from Jackson County Title 3 Funds to promote Firewise Communities within the District.

Fire Chief Dan Petersen retires from the District in December and a search for a new Fire Chief begins.

The District hires Robert B. Horton from Las Vegas Fire and Rescue to serve as the new Fire Chief commencing June 19, 2017.

The District concludes the 2015-2017 Strategic Plan and establishes the 2018-2020 Strategic Plan through collaborative involvement from partnering agencies, stakeholders, and District members.

The District discontinues providing fire chief and chief officer response services to Jackson County Fire District 4.

The District purchases land on Scenic Avenue in Central Point and working with Jackson County School District 6, begins the process of building the eighth fire station.

The District purchases and places in service two new structural fire engines from Pierce Manufacturing to continue the complement of like engines for each career station.

The District completes the RCC/FD3 Fire Science Center. The classroom was made possible by both Jackson and Josephine County taxpayers and the Fire District 3 Board of Directors.

The District completes five Seismic rehabilitation projects funded by a state grant at the Central Point, Dodge Bridge, Sams Valley, Eagle Point, and Agate Lake stations.

The District hires Justin Bates as the Deputy Chief of Strategic Services from Medford Fire Department to oversee the support systems of the District as well as the development of the community risk reduction program.

The District begins construction on the Scenic fire station in Central Point.