Los Alamos County breaks ground on Fire Station 4 replacement

Shovels hit the ground on Diamond Drive Wednesday afternoon, marking the start of Los Alamos County’s replacement of Fire Station 4 at 4401 Diamond Drive, a project county leaders say is meant to strengthen emergency readiness in the parts of Los Alamos County that rely on the station.

The new station is being built as a LEED Gold certified facility with co-ed spaces for up to 10 first responders, plus dedicated areas for EMS, public education, honor guard and wildland fire divisions. County officials have said the design is intended to maximize familiarity, efficiency, turnout speed, ease of use and firefighter health and well-being, all goals tied directly to public safety and quality of life.

For taxpayers, the clearest measurable commitment is the price tag. Los Alamos County Council unanimously approved Spartan Construction of New Mexico’s $17.9 million bid on April 7, locking in the construction contract before the ceremonial groundbreaking. The county has also said the replacement station will be sited adjacent to the existing station, keeping the firehouse on the same Diamond Drive footprint that already serves this part of the county.

The replacement also reflects a long public process that began in 2024. Los Alamos County held public meetings on the Fire Station 4 project in September and October 2024, then County Council selected the existing Fire Station 4 site on November 12, 2024. A public meeting followed on March 6, 2025, and the Los Alamos County Planning and Zoning Commission approved a major site plan amendment on August 13, 2025.

The need for replacement is tied to more than age alone. County materials say the current station lacks co-ed spaces, a shortfall the new building is designed to correct. The county is also pitching the project as a public-safety investment that should support faster turnout, better organization inside the station and healthier working conditions for crews who answer medical calls, fires, rescues and wildland incidents.

The new station is expected to serve not only the immediate Diamond Drive corridor but also the wider county response network, including neighborhoods in Los Alamos and White Rock that depend on quick first response when road crashes, wildfire threats or other emergencies unfold. Wednesday’s groundbreaking made clear that the upgrade is no longer a planning exercise. Construction is now underway on a facility county leaders say is meant to last for decades, not just patch an old building a little longer.