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Federal Grant to Fund 9 New Las Cruces Firefighter Positions

The City of Las Cruces (City) has announced it was recently awarded $1,162,664 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Fiscal Year 2017 Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response Grants. Here is a statement from the city:

The three-year grant award will allow the Las Cruces Fire Department to fund nine new firefighter positions and address the increasing call volume and improve response time within the community. “The new positions will significantly address call volume to reduce current response times in the area, resulting in a direct positive impact to the residents through improved fire and medical services,” stated Chief Eric Enriquez. 

In a review of the most recent construction activity, this need is especially true for the East Mesa area of Las Cruces, which has seen the greatest increase in critical infrastructure, residential, and commercial building within the City. Recent additions include the East Mesa campus of Doña Ana Community College, many businesses along the major intersections of I­-70, and large areas of residential homes. Additionally, the City has seen commercial growth to include a film soundstage, a stand-alone emergency room, the start of construction on a third hospital, and the planned construction of a housing development with more than 5,000 single family homes.  

“Meeting the needs of our fire department to include adequate staffing is essential,” said City Manager Stuart C. Ed. “Additional firefighters will reduce firefighter fatigue for those who may have worked overtime to ensure sufficient coverage at the station. Our budget has expanded over the past three years to show that this is a priority. The increase has been to cover the cost of additional personnel, such as absorbing previous SAFER 2010 grant award hires and opening Fire Station 8. This is an example of our relentless pursuit of external grant funding in partnership with Incite Consultancy, Inc. which has allowed us to add nearly 60 positions Citywide without increasing the budget,” Ed said.