At its September 10, 2009, regular meeting the Picture Rocks Fire District (PRFD) Governing Board voted unanimously to end all further study and talks with Northwest Fire District regarding a possible merger or consolidation. The Governing Board did not feel comfortable with the issue of retaining the ambulance service's Certificate of Necessity (CON) should there be a merger or consolidation.

The Arizona Department of Health Services issues CONs which gives ambulance services the right to operate in a specified geographical area. Currently, the CON for our area is issued to PRFD. The laws and rules are not clear as to whether or not the PRFD CON would be transferable to a merged or consolidated entity. If the CON was not transferable, PRFD would forfeit its CON if it merged or consolidated with Northwest Fire District, making it available to other ambulance services. The Governing Board felt this uncertainty made it unwise to proceed any further with merger/consolidation study and discussions regarding both the ambulance and fire services.