ECRWSS Carrier Route PreSorted Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 371 Cave Creek, AZ
Hampton Inn coming
Eagle Scout earns rank
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Serving the communities of Anthem, Black Canyon City, Carefree, Cave Creek, Desert Hills, New River, North Phoenix, Tramonto and Peoria
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Prayer lifts Sunny Parker to volunteerism
INSIDE
This Week
BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Foothills Focus Executive Editor
BUSINESS........... 34
Cave Creek Distillery gets OK to make whiskey on-site
FEATURES .......38
Anthem’s Autumnfest will be reimagined this fall
YOUTH ............48
’The Great Salt Machine’ shares family’s story
OPINION.................... 19 BUSINESS.................. 31 FEATURES................. 36 YOUTH....................... 46 CLASSIFIEDS............. 50 Zone
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF CAVE CREEK) | TheFoothillsFocus.com
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S
unny Parker isn’t one to cancel appointments. But when brush fires are approaching Cave Creek and the town’s mayor, Ernie Bunch, comes calling, there’s no time to waste. Parker founded Arizona Foothills 911, a 9,000-member Facebook page dedicated to neighbors helping neighbors in emergency situations. The target audience is Cave Creek, Carefree, Desert Hills, Rio Verde and North
see PARKER page 4
Sunny Parker thought that if she started a Facebook page for her area, maybe 300 people would sign up in five years. Arizona Foothills 911 now boasts 10,000 members. (Foothills Focus photo by Tim Sealy)
Area firefighters to Cave Creek: We can’t help you BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Foothills Focus Executive Editor
C
ave Creek officials are exploring ways to provide fire protection and emergency medical services for the town, instead of relying on nearby municipalities’ departments. The town hired independent consultant Kevin Roche of PSRM, who reviewed the recent fires and prepared a report for the council. Its current model of voluntary subscription fire and EMS is not sustainable, Roche said in his report. The limited service
provided by Rural Metro Fire to the town’s residents depends on revenue from between 40% and 50% of the municipality’s properties. It also depends on the provision of mutual aid from neighboring jurisdictions for simultaneous, moderate and larger emergencies. “The willingness of the town’s neighbors to provide this backup for free is at the breaking point,” Roche wrote. Daisy Mountain Fire & Medical Chief Brian Tobin told The Foothills Focus that it’s draining his department. “We’re basically their de facto backup to
their going on the cheap in their town,” Tobin said. “The metro fire departments surrounding Cave Creek are so frustrated by the city’s failure to have a fire department that they are considering not coming back for the next big Cave Creek fire. There’s way too much risk for us to go in on an hourly basis to put fires out in a town like that. We do it with our partners, and we’re all in it together. Tom Shannon (Scottsdale fire chief) will tell you that he has had career-ending inju-
see FIREFIGHTING page 6