Terry Keller

Terry Keller is the Fire Chief of the Copper Canyon Fire and Medical District, which provides emergency services to the communities of Camp Verde, Rimrock, Lake Montezuma, and the Yavapai Nation in north-central Arizona.  Chief Keller began his fire service career with the Sedona Fire District in 1988 as a volunteer firefighter and rose through the ranks to eventually serve as Interim Fire Chief prior to retiring as the Assistant Fire Chief of Operations in 2013.

Upon retirement, Chief Keller immediately began working as the Fire Chief of the Montezuma Rimrock Fire District (MRFD), and served in this capacity for one year, until he was hired by the Camp Verde Fire District (CVFD) to serve as their Fire Chief while also continuing to serve the Montezuma Rimrock District as a “Shared Chief” under an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA).  This arrangement proved to be economically beneficial and led to further IGAs between the two districts, which in turn eventually resulted in the formation of a Joint Powers of Authority (JPA) so the Districts could operate as one agency- the Copper Canyon Fire and Medical Authority.

Once the MRFD voter-approved (2012) property tax override expired in 2018, and there was no longer a financial incentive to maintain the JPA, Chief Keller facilitated the merger of the two districts in 2019 which then became the Copper Canyon Fire and Medical District.  During his tenure as Fire Chief, Chief Keller has successfully authored numerous grants, including a recent FEMA SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) award of over $1.3 million which has enabled CCFMD to hire additional staffing in advance of the completion of a new fire station which opened in the summer of 2021.

Chief Keller holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Business Administration from Northern Arizona University, as well as an Associate’s Degree in Fire Science from Yavapai Community College.