The site of the existing Fire Station No. 4 will be the location for the new station. Los Alamos County Council unanimously approved the site during its Nov. 12 meeting. Courtesy photo
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
A new building for Los Alamos Fire Department’s station no. 4 progresses forward after County Council unanimously approved the site of the existing station for the new building.
Council voted on the site, which is 4401 Diamond Drive near Los Alamos Golf Course, during its regular meeting Nov. 12.
Los Alamos County Councilor Randall Ryti moved to approve the site selection.
“I think this was fairly straightforward,” he said, “I appreciate the outreach and the community that did provide input on the options and look forward to seeing a new station at this site.”
Council Chair Denise Derkacs agreed, noting that public support for the Diamond Drive location was extremely strong.
“The preference from the public is pretty clear,” she said.
In fact, Fire Chief Troy Hughes said based on the input received from three public meetings held to weigh feedback on the various sites considered for the new station, the current one was the clear winner.
“…100 percent of the community said to put it at the existing location and our firefighters are telling us that, too,” Hughes said.
David Grooms of VEGA Architects, the contractor for the project design, explained why a new fire station is needed. First off, he pointed out that firefighting is not an easy career. Firefighters are exposed to carcinogens and endure a lot of stress. As a result, it is a career that is hard to attract recruits. Additionally, the current station no. 4 building is old, inefficient and riddled with costly maintenance issues.
Having a fire station with improved designs, technology and equipment can help firefighters, Grooms said, by providing a clean environment, offering facilities that will improve sleep, mental health and gender inclusion. Plus, it will have better functionality and sustainability by being LEED Silver Certified.
There are several pros to keeping the existing site for the fire station, Groom said.
Benefits include:
- Immediate access to Diamond Drive;
- All utilities are available;
- A second floor would work well with the existing grade;
- A smaller limit of disturbance; and
- A minimal disturbance of existing trails.
The challenges are that significant fill will be required as well as retaining walls. The stormwater main is expected to need to be relocated, too.
There were two other sites under consideration. Grooms said the other options were the golf course maintenance yard at 999 San Ildefonso Road and a vacant lot north of the Loma Linda playground at 101 N. Mesa Road.
Councilor Ryti asked how the three sites were chosen. Hughes explained it mainly had to do with response times.
“Looking at response times, the district is pretty long and wide so we kind of have a limited scope of where we can move that station to still be able to serve west end and east end, north and south, so there really is only about three spots … to maintain our response in a timely manner,” he said.
With the site selected, the project can now move into pre-design and then design phases. Grooms’ presentation didn’t identify a start or completion date for construction but showed contract documents for the construction being developed in June 2025.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $13 million but will likely rise a bit depending on site preparation costs and final design.
