JACKSON COUNTY

FIRE DISTRICT 5

District History

Jackson County Fire District 5 was established in 1965, originally named "Talent Fire District 5 Rural Fire Protection District."  The first paid Fire Chief was Tom White, and all the Firefighters were volunteers.  The Fire District’s first station was very small and located at West Valley View Road in Talent, Oregon.  In 1968 the Talent Rural Fire Protection District merged with Barron Rural Volunteer Fire Department (Emigrant Lake Area, Ashland, Oregon).  With the merger, the Fire District doubled in size and population. That year, a new station was built by volunteers at 716 South Pacific Highway in Talent, and remained in use until January of 2004 when it was replaced by the current Headquarters Fire Station at 5811 South Pacific Highway in Phoenix.

In 1969, the Fire District hired three Firefighters to assist the Chief and began providing 24-hour service.  By 1969, District 5 grew to six paid Firefighters and had approximately twenty volunteers. By the early 1970’s the District’s growth continued and alarms increased dramatically, so that within a few years, the district employed twelve paid Firefighters and had twenty-five volunteers.  Also at that time, the Fire District began providing emergency medical response.  In 1999, the City of Talent voted to annex into Fire District 5, becoming the first response area within city boundaries to belong to the District, and the City of Phoenix was annexed to the District on July 1, 2008.

Re-acquired in 2004, the first fire truck owned by the District is a restoration project of employees and volunteers. We hope to have the truck restored and ready for parades and other fire prevention activities in the community.