In its early days as a small, scattered, isolated settlement, Sedona had few emergency services. After the Sedona School burned to the ground in 1948, the new Chamber of Commerce started a "Firefight Fund." Blacksmith and mechanic Carl Richards kept Sedona's first fire truck in his garage and is unofficially known as Sedona's first fire chief. The Sedona-Oak Creek Volunteer Fire Department was formally organized in 1957, but because it spanned two counties, legal and political hurdles remained even as firefighters crossed the county line to help people. The Red Rock Fire District, formed in 1960 by the newly formed Red Rock Taxpayers Association, overcame these obstacles. The district built its first fire station on land donated by a development in Grasshopper Flat and added its first ambulance in March 1963 when the Business and Professional Women's Club donated one. In the early 1900s, the county sometimes appointed rural justices of the peace when a volunteer was available, including Juan Armijo, but Juan and his successors had little to do. In 1940, Coconino County hired Will Steele Sr. as the area's first part-time sheriff's deputy, and he used his personal car for calls. After he died in 1951, his son took the job, which was then made full-time. Will Jr. responded to emergencies in Yavapai County and waited until a deputy from that side of the county line could arrive from Cottonwood. When the City of Sedona incorporated in 1988, it established its own police department.