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Unlike most metropolitan areas in the United States, Phoenix, Arizona, and its suburbs present a striking contrast in the means of delivering one of the most basic services for which government is responsible: fire protection. Many of the city''s fast-growing suburbs rely on Rural Metro, Inc., a private firm with which municipalities contract for fire service. Although the two types of service peacefully co-exist, for the most part, alongside one another, the two approaches are forced to compete directly when, in the summer of 1991, the suburb of Gilbert must decide whether to continue to rely on Rural Metro or whether to establish its own public fire service. This case allows for discussion of the public versus private theme on a variety of levels, both financial and philosophical. Funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.