verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message rural metro corporation type private company industry healthcare founded 1948 headquarters scottsdale arizona products ambulance fire protection security services emergency communications revenue 500 million usd 2008 owner envision healthcare holdings website ruralmetro.com rural metro corporation was an american for profit emergency services organization providing emergency medical transportation non emergency general medical transportation fire protection services and emergency related training services to private and commercial enterprises . the company was considered the second largest emergency services organization in the united states and major competitor to amr . operating in more than 400 communities across 21 states . 1 rural metro employs over 8 000 people and answers 1.5 million calls for service yearly . rural metro owns southwest ambulance of arizona as well as bowers and pacific ambulances of california . contents 1 history 2 emergency medical services 3 fire protection services 4 specialty fire 5 see also 6 references history edit the company was founded by lou wietzman a newspaper reporter after he witnessed a house fire near his home just outside the city limits of phoenix arizona in 1948 . there was no fire department established for the area so wietzeman feeling something had to be done he purchased a fire engine and proceeded to go door to door asking residents to subscribe to the new fire service by paying an annual membership fee in lieu of taxes . 1 this was the origin of the rural fire department later renamed rural metro fire department . in the 1980s the company expanded into ambulance service . rural metro began listing shares in 1993 on the nasdaq exchange under the stock symbol rurl . warburg pincus acquired rural metro in june 2011 for us 728 000 000 in cash and debt . 2 rural metro was delisted from nasdaq as part of the merger agreement . 3 in 2013 the company replaced senior management including the chief executive officer as part of its chapter 11 bankruptcy deal . the company continued operations during the bankruptcy reorganization ; however in 2015 rural metro was purchased by envision healthcare holdings 4 the parent company of american medical response 5 and senior management was released or merged into the parent corporation . emergency medical services edit a couple of southwest ambulance trucks seen in casa grande arizona . rural metro owns southwest ambulance . in 1969 rural metro began offering ambulance service to customers by placing an ambulance at its fire station in the unincorporated cave creek arizona . rural metro continues to operate fire based and ems based ambulance services . many communities are covered under a master contract in which rural metro is selected as the sole provider for fire services or 911 ambulance services for a jurisdiction . additionally rural metro offers other transport services in areas in which they are not the primary ems provider . rural metro currently offers ambulance services in 450 communities across 20 states . 6 fire protection services edit rural metro provides fire protection services primarily under a subscription based model to individual homeowners and commercial property owners in unincorporated suburbs throughout several counties in arizona oregon and tennessee . these areas are not included within municipal fire department boundaries or paid for by property taxes and rural metro fills that unique niche . it is the business model that rural metro was founded upon . additionally in certain communities rural metro partners directly with cities towns and fire districts under master fire contracts to provide a full complement of fire protection prevention and emergency medical services . 7 in the event that rural metro fire department provides services to non subscribers either in or around the communities they serve the property owner is billed after the incident to recoup costs associated with the emergency . 8 specialty fire edit rural metro s specialty fire division is nationally recognized as a leader in fire protection services . rural metro maintains an important role in keeping our nation s airports industrial facilities and communities safe and secure by focusing on each customer s specific safety environmental and security standards in all aspects of operations . firefighting emergency medical and or security guard services are provided 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year at various operations located throughout the united states . specialty fire division is committed to providing the best possible proactive approach to fire safety prevention and education and security services . the division maintains membership in the following organizations national fire protection association nfpa international association of fire chiefs iafc ; aircraft rescue and fire fighting working group arff wg ; american association of airport executives aaae ; aaae great lakes chapter ; louisiana airport managers and associates lama and isnetworld . 9 see also edit emergency medical services rescue ambulance public utility model references edit a b rural metro corporation our history ambulance transportation private fire protection services . ruralmetro.com . retrieved 2015 03 03 . warburg buys rural metro . the new york times . retrieved 2015 03 03 . form 8 k . edgar . u.s. securities and exchange commission . july 1 2011 . item 3.01 . commission file number 0 22056 . retrieved july 26 2013 . http investor.evhc.net press release 2015 envision healthcare announces closing ruralmetro acquisition 1 2 archived november 27 2011 at the wayback machine . https www.ruralmetrofire.com services community fire protection.html https www.ruralmetrofire.com subscriptions establish fire subscription.html https www.ruralmetrofire.com services specialized fire protection.html retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title rural metro & oldid 736846993 categories companies based in scottsdale arizonaambulance services in the united stateshidden categories articles with wayback machine linksarticles needing additional references from september 2007all articles needing additional referencespages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 30 august 2016 at 06 40 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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