Fire Station Serving Southern Sandoval County and Santa Ana Pueblo Opening March 16
Sandoval County, New Mexico
February 28, 2012
Sandoval County, New Mexico, February 28, 2012-The Grand Opening for Sandoval County Fire Station No. 21 will take place on Friday March 16, 2012 at 11:00 A.M.
Sandoval County Fire Station No. 21 is the second combination volunteer and career fire station to be constructed by Sandoval County to meet the growing fire protection and EMS needs of this diverse community. Station No. 43, located on the I-25 Frontage Road north of Highway 165 in Placitas, opened in November 2010.
Volunteer and career personnel from Station 21 will provide fire protection and emergency medical services in the southern Sandoval County area, including the Pueblo of Santa Ana, Santa Ana Casino, Tamaya Hyatt Resort, the Town of Bernalillo, Zia Pueblo, Placitas, the Pueblo of Sandia and the Village of Algodones.
Station 21 personnel also will respond to the City of Rio Rancho and the Village of Corrales when mutual aid is requested.
Tour and Open House
The Grand Opening will include a tour of the station and remarks from local government officials who worked to secure funding for the facility. The program will run from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The station also will be open to the public on Saturday, March 17th, from 09:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M., for guided tours.
The station is the result of an Agreement of Cooperation signed by officials from Sandoval County and the Santa Ana Pueblo on June 17, 2004. Under the agreement, the pueblo donated two acres of land to house the station. The pueblo also agreed to make yearly payments to the county for fire protection and EMS services on the pueblo.
Funding for the station came from a combination of state and federal funds. In 2004, the pueblo received $470,000 from the New Mexico Legislature to purchase a new ladder truck that has been housed in a temporary fire station on pueblo land north of the Santa Ana Golf Course. Three years later, the Legislature allocated $365,000 to fund the planning and design work on a permanent station.
In 2009, Sandoval County secured $2.7 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-also known as the Federal Stimulus Program-to fund the station’s construction.
A First for the Pueblo
“The Pueblo of Santa Ana is anxious for the new Fire Station No. 21 to become operational,” says E.J. Lujan, Governor of Santa Ana Pueblo. “This is a first for the pueblo and will enhance the fire and emergency medical services for its tribal members, its business enterprises and guests, as well as the communities in Southern Sandoval County. It’s also important to note that this project could not have become a reality without the cooperative working relationship with County of Sandoval, New Mexico Legislators and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
Fire Station No. 21 is located near the intersection of US Highway 550 and State Road 528. The 13,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility will house two full-time firefighters around the clock, in addition to three EMT/firefighters from the Sandoval County Fire Residency Program.
Personnel from the fire residency program are students working on their Fire Science degrees. They will be allowed to live at the station free of charge in exchange for working regular duty shifts as volunteer firefighters.
The station has six dorm rooms and three bathrooms to accommodate the personnel. The station also is equipped with four drive-through bays for firefighting equipment, an employee training room, a library, a fitness room, as well as a laundry, kitchen and dining room.
“The Grand Opening of Sandoval County Fire Station No. 21 is the culmination of seven years of hard work and commitment by the Sandoval County Board of County Commissioners, Sandoval County Fire Department and the Pueblo of Santa Ana Tribal Administration,” Sandoval County Fire Chief Jon Tibbetts notes. “This project exemplifies the ability of local governments to work together to improve the health and safety of it residents and visitors.”
Darryl Madalena, chairman of the Sandoval County Commission, says the opening of this new fire station is “a great success story, not only for Santa Ana and Bernalillo, but for all of Sandoval County. It was great to see so many different entities come together to complete this project. It’s just another example of how Sandoval County continues to lead the State of New Mexico into a bigger, brighter future.”