New Homes Today Magazine
Arizona Builder Becomes Eye in the Sky
CEO of Fulton Homes Flies to Serve His Community
By Trey Kline
On a pitch black night in the remote wilderness of northern Arizona, an injured hiker lies motionless on a craggy cliff outcropping. Suddenly, a lone whirlybird deftly descends and the injured explorer is plucked from the dangerous perch. Just another life-saving search and rescue mission for a well trained helicopter pilot. However, the pilot on this successful mission is actually a private citizen, Douglas Fulton, CEO of Fulton Homes, flying under the call sign, Mustang 1.
Fulton's passion for homebuilding is only matched by his passion for serving the community. Fulton is a special deputy for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and he's taken his love of flying helicopters to the next level: He now specializes in search and rescue missions.
"I'm starting to get a reputation for finding (lost) people," says Fulton. "This helicopter search and rescue work is therapy for me ? and it's gratifying to be able to assist the community by utilizing one of my greatest passions."
Fulton has plucked lost and disoriented hikers off cliffs and out of remote canyons. He has also committed his time, talent and treasure to CAMRA ? Central Arizona Mountain Rescue Association. Also known as the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Mountain Rescue team, CAMRA has a rich history of saving lives since its establishment in 1969, and is trained technically to perform search and rescue missions in the back country of Arizona.
"Doug Fulton is a key contributing member to mountain rescue and the community," says David Bremson, Operations Chief, WEMT, Commander of Maricopa County Sherriff's Office Mountain Rescue and CAMRA. "Of the dozens of missions that Doug has been involved in, he has personally located several missing outdoor users, both living and deceased. He has enhanced the overall operational readiness of the team, has exceeded the stringent safety and operational requirements that have been set for our aviators and is always 'on-call' for when we are required to act. Mustang 1 is often the pilot we call when we're out of options and Doug's one of the only private citizens with the training necessary to perform our kind of difficult insertion of extraction work within Maricopa County's 9,224 square miles of rugged mountains, deserts and rivers."
In addition to volunteer work, Fulton also uses his bird to facilitate purchasing, land acquisition and marketing for Arizona's most recognized homebuilder. Fulton also assisted law enforcement officials in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, delivering emergency medical supplies. Volunteer members of mountain rescue responded to provide rescue and humanitarian assistance during the disaster. Fulton provided his helicopter to shuttle personnel, equipment and supplies throughout the operation.
Fulton Homes was founded in 1975 and grew to be one of the top homebuilders and family owned businesses in Arizona. During the past several years, in the face of one of the worst housing markets in U.S. history, Fulton Homes soldiered on in a market devastated by foreclosures and short sales. Fulton Homes offers many homes in the $118,800 - $236,800 range.
Headquartered in Tempe, Fulton Homes builds affordable, high-quality single-family homes. Builder Magazine recognized Fulton Homes as the 49th largest builder in America in its 2009 Builder Top 100 report. To learn more about Fulton Homes, visit www.fultonhomes.com.
