Pierce County Fire District No. 17 was formed in 1953 by the founders of the Roy Fire Department, which was established in 1939. Pierce County Fire District No. 15 was established on June 24, 1952, and later, in 1999, was officially renamed South Pierce Fire and Rescue. January 2007, during a combined meeting of the Board of Fire Commissioners for both Districts No. 15 and No. 17, it was decided to pursue a plan to consolidate and merge the two districts. Progress of the plan outlined moved well ahead of schedule and in August of 2008, through voter support, the proposition to merge both districts was approved. Today, South Pierce Fire and Rescue provides fire and EMS services to a combined population of more than 22,000 citizens in an area covering 138 square miles, answering approximately 3,000 calls per year. The fire department maintains a fleet of vehicles including engines, engine tenders/tenders, utility vehicles, and brush trucks. Operating out of 8 stations, South Pierce Fire and Rescue is a combination department consisting of 31 career firefighters, approximately 20 volunteer firefighter/EMTs, and supplemented by three administrative staff. The Department is responsible for fire suppression (structural), wild land response, first response at the basic life support (BLS) level, advanced life support (ALS) response, evaluation and transport, vehicular extrication and rescue, hazardous materials response at the operations level, and public education.
