Stansbury secures $1 million for new Peralta fire station

A $1 million federal award will help Peralta replace a fire station that firefighters say is too old, too small and not built for the town’s emergency needs.

U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury announced the money on May 28, 2024, during a visit to the Peralta Fire Department with local leaders. Her office said the funding came through congressional Community Project Funding requests and was intended to support construction of a new station for more than 3,000 residents.

The existing station at 3 James Road, just off Bosque Farms Boulevard, is more than 50 years old and cannot hold all of the department’s equipment. Firefighters have had to put on gear in the back of the garage, and because the building has no beds, EMS personnel and firefighters have slept in chairs during shifts. The proposed new site is a vacant lot west of the intersection of N.M. 47 and Molina Road, across from Peralta Elementary School, a location that would move the department closer to the center of town and the corridor it serves.

The federal award is only the first step in a much larger buildout. Earlier planning put the project’s total cost near $8 million, and one estimate said the $1 million would cover the foundation while about $6 million more would still be needed to complete the station. Plans previously called for an 11,500-square-foot building on an 18,000-square-foot site with five apparatus bays, a decontamination room with restrooms and showers, a watch room, locker room, training room and a helipad for air ambulances.

The push comes as the Peralta Fire Department has tried to expand beyond its volunteer roots. The department has served the community for many years, including before Peralta incorporated in 2007. Jeremy Fiedler became the town’s first paid fire chief in November 2023, succeeding longtime volunteer chief John Dear, who had served since 1992. By May 2024, the department had eight volunteer firefighters, three paid part-time EMS positions and a fire hydrant project underway in town.

Stansbury’s office said Valencia County field representative Jacob Trujillo, a Peralta native, helped advance the request after the district was redrawn in 2021 to include part of Valencia County. The project also fits the county’s broader public-safety mission, which includes fire protection, advanced life support EMS, wildland firefighting and drone-assisted search and rescue. For Peralta, the grant marked the start of a long-delayed replacement for a cramped station that has strained the people inside it and the residents depending on them.