Our Story — Josephine County Fire
Rural Metro Fire — Our Story

Protecting Josephine County since 1979

More than four decades of showing up — built on a belief that every family deserves protection, regardless of where their property line falls.

Lou Witzeman — founding of Rural Metro Fire
1948 — The Idea

Born from a Belief That Every Family Deserves Protection

In 1948, a 22-year-old Arizona journalist named Lou Witzeman watched his neighbor's home burn to ash while no fire department came — because the house sat just outside city limits and beyond the reach of municipal protection.

Driven by the belief that every family deserves protection regardless of where their property line falls, Lou set out to change that. He was the first to build a private fire company that could operate across multiple communities, and he pioneered the idea of contracting directly with municipalities to get it done.

"It takes hard work, brains, and luck to make it in the world of privately operated fire service."

The history of Rural Metro in Oregon is proof of exactly that.

Valley Fire Service — Early days in Josephine County
A New Kind of Fire Department
1979 — Josephine County

A New Kind of Fire Department for Southern Oregon

In the late 1970s, residents of unincorporated Josephine County faced a problem shared by rural communities across the country: no tax-funded fire protection existed outside the city limits of Grants Pass. A struggling private company served parts of the area, but was plagued by funding shortfalls. A 1976 county study recommended forming a government fire district, but the proposal stalled with the commissioners and never reached voters.

In 1978, Phil Turnbull — a career firefighter who had started as a volunteer at age 16 in Central Point, Oregon — began laying the groundwork for a new kind of fire department. By July of 1979, Rural Metro Fire began operations in Josephine County, offering subscription-based fire protection to the unincorporated communities surrounding Grants Pass. Turnbull became fire chief in January 1980 and would lead the operation for more than four decades.

For a time, rural Grants Pass was the only place in the nation with two competing privately owned fire departments. In mid-2014, the other provider — Grants Pass Rural Fire Department — merged into Rural Metro after it could no longer afford operating costs, consolidating decades of competing private fire services under one proven provider.

Rural Metro Josephine County Today
Positioned to Serve
Rural Metro Josephine County Today

Positioned to Serve Our Community Into the Future

What began with one truck and a single subscription area in 1979 has grown into the backbone of fire protection for Southern Oregon's Rogue Valley. Today, Rural Metro Fire serves approximately 350 square miles of Josephine County from seven stations — four staffed, three satellite — with a team of over 70 trained firefighters and EMTs, responding to nearly 3,000 calls for service each year.

Rural Metro is the only private community fire protection provider participating in the Rogue Valley Fire Chiefs Association's Mutual and Automatic Aid Agreement — meeting the standards required by the fire chiefs of every public agency across Josephine and Jackson Counties. That membership gives Rural Metro subscribers access to additional resources from throughout the region when emergencies demand it, and it supports a "closest engine response" system with Grants Pass Fire Rescue. Thanks to these capabilities, the service area holds an ISO rating of 4/3 — directly impacting what homeowners pay for insurance.

In November 2024, the Josephine County Board of Commissioners formally established the Josephine County Rural Fire Protection District after decades of community debate. A board of directors was elected in May 2025 and sworn in on July 1. The district was renamed the Mid Rogue Fire District in September 2025, covering approximately 326 square miles. Under a formal service agreement signed on July 7, 2025, Rural Metro continues as the sole contracted provider of all-hazard fire and emergency services for the district — maintaining the subscription-based model residents have relied on since 1979.

"This agreement allows us to maintain the current level of fire and emergency services without placing additional financial burden on taxpayers."

Rural Metro also partners with the Applegate Fire District, serving residents in the Murphy area through membership in lieu of taxes. In April 2023, Chief Steve Nelson — a fire service veteran who began his career in Jacksonville, Oregon in 1982 and joined Rural Metro in 1988 — assumed command of the Josephine County operation, succeeding founding chief Phil Turnbull after more than four decades of leadership.

That same year, Rural Metro Fire was acquired by Brindlee Fire Services, a powerhouse in the fire service industry. Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus, its flagship operation, stands as the largest buyer, seller, and servicer of fire apparatus in the Western Hemisphere — maintaining the nation's largest on-site inventory of fire trucks, aerial units, and rescue apparatus. For Josephine County residents, it means the same excellent service they have always counted on — now backed by an organization that exists for one purpose: serving the fire industry at the highest level.

Still Here. Still Protecting.

From One Truck in 1979 to Seven Stations Across Josephine County

Rural Metro Fire has been a constant in Josephine County for more than four decades. Our mission has never changed: professional, reliable fire protection built on a direct commitment to the families and communities we serve — from Sunny Valley and Merlin to Wilderville, Murphy, Hugo, and every neighborhood in between. Now, as the contracted provider for the Mid Rogue Fire District, we continue to ensure that no corner of this county is ever left without someone to call.