John was born in Nogales and was raised in Sonoita, Elgin, Yellowstone, Big Bend, Texas, and Wasatch, Utah. In 1959 John’s Dad bought the old 160 acre Beatty Homestead (Circa 1910), now “The Everhart Ranch”.* In 1967 John went to, and graduated from Northern Arizona University with a degree in Industrial Arts Education. In the summer of 1971 he worked for a construction company in Sierra Vista. In 1975 he formed his own company called Everhart Construction Company, which was housed in what is now the Sonoita Feed Store on Highway 82. Four years later he moved to his new location, which is today Empire Homes. Everhart Construction built the Cactus Flower, now home of Cafe Sonoita, and was in the restaurant business for 14 months. In 1991 John and Bill Wolever built a neighborhood grocery store, now the old Texaco station on Hwy 82.
Who better to manage the final construction of the fire station than John Everhart. He had drawn up the complete plans in the beginning. Most of John’s construction crew were volunteer firemen. They worked at the fire station MANY times - sometimes for no pay and sometimes they were paid out of John’s pocket. Helga Bowman had started a fund raiser in Chief Spencer’s time called BUY A BRICK for $ l.00. She raised over $ 6,000! Many people gave bricks from their own construction. When you drive by, check out the variety of the bricks. The original building was 64 feet square. It consisted of a radio room, two restrooms, kitchen, meeting room, and a big bay for the trucks and equipment. John says, “We had to get the building finished in order to work out of it.” September 16, 1989 was OPEN HOUSE day! When I asked John what he remembers most about that time he said, “Everyone pulled together!” And they truly did.
New Fire Station, New Fire Chief, New Era! The vehicles moved into the new fire station were a 1959 Chevrolet pumper, a jeep brush truck, an old Army duce and a half converted to a brush truck, an old Army 6 x 6 brush truck, and a 5,000 gallon tender. The vehicles needed much repair work to get them in reliable working order. Parts were not available for the old Army equipment. Immediately John began to look for options to replace them. A U.S. West truck was bought at auction in Phoenix, and an old railroad maintenance truck with a crew cab and winch was purchased at a used auto lot in Tucson. These vehicles were converted to a brush truck and a brush truck/tender, which allowed the old Army vehicles to be returned to the State. Mickey McArthur went “wheelin' and dealin'” and was able to get a U.S. West suburban donated, which the firemen converted into a rescue truck. Many people and organizations banded together to help move the department along. Mr. McWilliams, Santa Cruz County Emergency Services Coordinator, offered his help to the organization. Herb Hoey, Arizona State Assistant Fire Marshal gave a presentation to the department, and donated a few firefighter turnout suits. Leo Swatloski, an expert in radio communications, volunteered to manage the communications. In October of 1989 a Fire District was discussed, but was not considered feasible at the time. SEESI joined the Arizona Fire District Association. Ray Kunde, former Fire Chief at Fort Huachuca, volunteered to give fire prevention advice to homeowners upon request. The department began working with the Insurance Service Organization (ISO) in order to help reduce fire insurance rates in the area. Patagonia Fire Department was there to help when needed.
Training started up strong. When the new fire station went into business there were 12 fire fighters, 75% of whom had fire fighting experience, and 5 fully certified EMTs. Wild Land Training and Fire Fighting Rescue I and II classes were held in Tucson, Sierra Vista and Huachuca City. Dorothy Mendoza from the Patagonia Fire Department, and an instructor from the Tubac Fire Department came here to teach a 1st responder course. Terry and Lisa Sink helped our EMTs and rescue efforts during this time. Terry Sink was an IEMT, later to become a Paramedic. We were and are a rescue unit only—we cannot transport patients. Tucson Medical Center was our base hospital. Page outs came from Nogales.
Helga Bowman started the ladies group, later to be called SEESI Ladies on January 1, 1990. They did rummage sales, dinners for different groups, catered affairs, monthly luncheons, and many other fund raisers. This was a really wonderful time, and Chief Everhart was the biggest part of it all. Thanks John! You gave this community, your heart, your time, your generosity and, as always, your faithful friendship.
Chief Everhart was able to finish the Fire Station with the kind donations from Dick Berg of Sierra Vista for all ductwork; Bob Bowman for a 250 gallon propane gas tank; and Bill Wolever for all supplies and installation of all electrical work. MANY THANKS !
SEESI Ladies
The Ladies decided at their January meeting to have a breakfast in February instead of a luncheon. The breakfast was a big success! We served 72 people, and had a good profit after expenses. We will continue serving breakfast through June, and then decide if we will continue. Upcoming breakfast dates are: April 9 , May 14, and June 11.
The SEESI Ladies are preparing a dinner for Tunnel Springs for their Annual Home Owners Meeting on March 19 th. In July or August we may have a gourmet dinner for 6 couples at the fire station. Details will be announced later.
Thank you for all your support. Volunteers are always welcome. Call Carol Hager at 455-5348 or Joseph DeWolf at the Fire Station 455-5854 for more information.
Notice of Intent
As you are probably aware we are working towards the creation of a tax supported fire district that will eventually replace SEESI. We are in the final stages of putting together applications to both Santa Cruz and Pima counties requesting the formation of a fire district. We must make a separate application in each county even though we are asking to create a single district serving both areas (please see map on page 4). We will submit these applications to each county’s Board of Supervisors by April 1, 2005. They will then begin a process of public hearings and notifications which will last through the early summer. It will be important for you to be involved in this process in order to voice your concerns and hopefully your support for the creation of a fire district.
Creating a fire district will do several things that will directly benefit you:
It will ensure that everyone in this community is paying a fair share of the cost of this fire department. Currently, 25-30% of our community does not support the fire department in any way. This means that those of you who are members are paying someone else’s share as well as your own.
It will allow us to provide a greater level of protection as we expand the department to meet the needs of a growing community. We need to build another station in addition to the main one in Sonoita. We also need to develop water storage and hire more people to cover the number of calls we now receive. Our call load has more than doubled in the last 10 years and continues to rise as our community grows. We are often juggling multiple calls at the same time without enough people to cover all of them adequately. This situation is not safe for the community or for our volunteers.
As we expand our capabilities, we can help lower your homeowners insurance rates. Your insurance rate is based on our ISO rating. Our ISO rating is based on our proximity to your home, as well as our capabilities, training, staff, and equipment. If your home is within five miles of a fire station that can meet certain requirements you will have a lower ISO rating and lower rates. However, we must be able to meet those requirements placed on us by ISO first. By reducing the ISO rating from an 8 to a 5 we would reduce your insurance rate by about $200/year on a typical home.
Finally, by forming our own fire district, we can maintain local control of our community’s emergency services. This community has invested too much in this department over the years to see it lost to outside control by those who don’t share our concerns and priorities
Throughout April and May we will be hosting meetings each Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. at the firehouse in Sonoita. Please drop by so we can answer your questions and update you on our progress. We will also have the necessary petitions available for you to sign after the Board of Supervisors in each county approves our request. We can put in the applications, but they will only pass if the community is actively supporting them. We ask that you be involved and help.
Non-Member User Charges
If SEESI responds to a non-medical emergency to a non-member location, the following fees will apply:
Call for SEESI Board Members
Interested in serving your community? Join the dedicated volunteers who contribute by serving on the SEESI Board of Directors. For further information contact Jodi Walker, 455-4631.
Save the Date!
SEESI’s annual meeting will be held on Monday, June 6 th at 7:30 p.m. at the Fire House.
News Credits:
Editing and layout: Alison Bunting and Bonnie Chambers
Spring 2005
