Rural/Metro Fire Chief for Fountain Hills Randy Roberts has announced his retirement after more than 35 years in the fire service, effective June 10 this year.

Before working in Fountain Hills Roberts had a 29-year career with the Phoenix Fire Department, where he retired as a captain. He was a certified paramedic and was part of Phoenix Fire’s FEMA urban search and rescue team. Roberts was dispatched with that team to Oklahoma City after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in April 1995.

He was staged to respond to the 9/11 attack in New York in 2001, but another team was sent.

Roberts has been a Fountain Hills resident since 1987.

After retiring from Phoenix Fire, Roberts was hired in 2007 as assistant chief and fire marshal for Rural/Metro in Fountain Hills.

He was promoted to Rural/Metro chief in Fountain Hills in 2013 to fill the shoes of the late Chief Scott LaGreca.

According to Roberts, per contract with the town, Rural/Metro will do a nationwide search and provide Town Manager Grady Miller with three candidates for new chief. Miller will select Roberts’ replacement from those three.