The Town of Carefree truly values its beautiful Sonoran Desert landscape that defines the community’s rural character. Surrounded by natural desert terrain, everyone in Carefree shares a responsibility to reduce wildfire risk and protect homes, neighborhoods, and open space.
Carefree’s Fire Department, operated by Rural Metro Fire, has played a key role in educating residents, community members, and homeowners associations about the Firewise USA® Program. Through their hands-on support and ongoing collaboration, the Carefree Fire Department has helped three local communities take the extra steps needed to achieve a Firewise USA® Certified Site status.
The Town of Carefree proudly recognizes Carefree Foothills, Carefree Mountain Estates, and Doublegate for their dedication, teamwork, and commitment to wildfire mitigation.
Brian Bunkers, a Carefree Foothills resident who led the community’s Firewise certification effort, shared, “Firewise is a community driven project all about creating a safe defensible space reducing risk to your home in the event of a wildfire.”
Cindy Burgin, Firewise Community Leader for Doublegate HOA, added, “The Firewise certification process was a team effort that educated our community and created a real sense of awareness around wildfire prevention and safety. Properly maintaining buildings and creating defensible space around our property was crucial and helps keep us and our community safe.”
Chris Sprinkle, President of the Carefree Mountain Estates HOA states that, “Homeowners totally embraced the concepts offered by Firewise certification and we recorded nearly 3000 hours to fire safety in 2025. This was all enabled by Carefree leadership and the guidance of Chris Reed from the State and Chief Pohl at Rural Metro.”
Mayor states, “It is exciting to have our first three HOA communities recognized as Firewise certified. These neighborhoods are leading the way to reduce wildfire risk. Their efforts and leadership are to be applauded and set an outstanding example of what neighbors working with neighbors can accomplish.”
The Town of Carefree is grateful to everyone that worked alongside the Carefree Fire Department and its Rural Metro Fire personnel on these efforts and looks forward to seeing these communities continue their work while encouraging additional neighborhoods to pursue Firewise USA® certification.