MADISON VALLEY RURAL FIRE DEPARTMENT MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Madison Valley Rural Fire-Rescue Department is to identify and respond to community needs in order to deliver a compassionate, effective and efficient system of services which minimize risk to life, health, and property from fire, trauma, and hazardous conditions. HISTORY OF THE MADISON VALLEY RURAL FIRE DEPARTMENT
The Madison Valley Rural Fire Department serves the City of Ennis and the Madison Valley in southwest Montana. We are a volunteer department that operates out of three stations with two more stations planned for the future. Staffing includes 35 Volunteer firefighters and 3 part-time administrative staff. The Madison Valley Rural Fire District covers 1,287 square miles, with a population of 3,185 as of the 2019 Census. The district extends from the Idaho border in the south to the top of the Norris Hill, approximately 10 miles north of Ennis, in the north and generally covers all public and private lands with in the Madison Valley. The Madison Valley Rural Fire Department has a long and proud heritage of service with a lineage that dates back to April 10, 1915 when the Ennis Volunteer Fire Department was formed. The Ennis Volunteer Fire Department was formed to provide fire suppression services for the Town of Ennis. On April 8, 1940, the Ennis Fire District was officially formed. As time progressed, the department found its self responding to more and more rural fires. As a result, the Madison Valley Rural Fire District was formed in 1961. Both departments coexisted, generally comprised of the same firefighters using equipment belonging to both departments with designated apparatus for town or rural response depending on which entity had purchased the apparatus. As costs of fire fighting equipment increased and budgets shrank, the Town of Ennis found it more fiscally responsible to contract fire suppression services from the Madison Valley Rural Fire District, and dissolve the Ennis Fire Department. As all of the firefighters had been members of both departments, this move only entailed a consolidation of equipment and apparatus with District resources. In the spring of 2009, the City of Ennis, which had now increased in population enough to attain “City” status, resolved to become a part of the Madison Valley Rural Fire District, and dissolve the inter-local agreement with the District. Today the Madison Valley Rural Fire Department has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1915. In addition to Structure and Wildland Fires, the department responds to Hazardous Materials Incidents, Motor Vehicle Crashes; providing extrication, incident command, and traffic control operations as well as assisting Madison Valley EMS with emergency medical care. As the Madison Valley Rural Fire Department maintains one of only two Rescue Boats in Madison County, we also respond to Water Rescue Incidents, Swiftwater Rescue Incidents, as well as a host of other special rescue incidents. The department supports missions for the Madison County Search and Rescue, and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office whenever any of our resources are needed. The Madison Valley Rural Fire Department also works closely and provides support to the Madison District of the United States Forest Service and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation during wildlifes.
