The Turner Fire District (TFD) is protected by the combined efforts of volunteer and paid staff who offer fire, rescue and EMS services to more than 48 square miles of rural farm land, industrial sites, schools, retirement facilities, amusement parks and interstate highway.

The TFD is called upon to respond more than 700 times each year with approximately 80% of the alarms related to medical emergencies. Two advanced life support (ALS) ambulances are staffed by a combination of paid paramedics and volunteer EMT’s who provide uninterrupted service 24 hours each day.

Beginning in 1939 as a volunteer community effort, the TFD was a city department controlled by the city’s mayor and elected officials. Volunteer Chief Albert Jensen was followed by his son, Brent Jensen who later became the department’s first paid chief. Over time, the city department was replaced by a fire district, managed by a separate group of elected board officials. At that time, the TFD began official protection of properties outside the city limits and became funded by property taxes imposed on all properties within the boundaries of the new district.

The current TFD may be roughly described as the area beginning at Sunnyside and Delaney, south to Interstate 5 at mile post 244, east to the northern edge of Marion, north to Witzel Road at Lipscomb, west to 36th near Keubler and south-west to the beginning point at Delaney and Sunnyside.

While the geographic area of the district has not changed dramatically over the years, the capabilities of the department have changed markedly. Most notable is the addition of medical response and transport along with added personnel and state-of-the-art firefighting equipment. In 2004, TFD voters approved a local option tax which allowed the fire district to replace much of its older fire apparatus.

In 2008, the TFD partnered with Marion County Fire District #1 to create the Willamette Valley Fire & Rescue Authority. While each fire district maintains its original identity and tax base, the fire authority brings the benefits of a functional consolidation while still allowing local governance and oversight.