Albuquerque fire hopes to get stimulus cash

Posted at: 06/04/2009 10:30 PM | Updated at: 06/05/2009 7:40 AM
By: Jeff Maher, Eyewitness News 4; Charlie Pabst, KOB.com

The Albuquerque Fire Department is preparing its wish list for federal stimulus money.

More than $200 million will be sent out to cities that need it the most for renovating and building new fire stations.

At Albuquerque’s Fire Station 9, space is limited both inside and out.

It’s right in the middle of a neighborhood, and firefighters have to get creative to find parking for their vehicles. It sits on a quarter acre of land while most fire stations are on at least one acre.

Fire Station 7 has similar issues, and was built in the early 1940s.

The department already has plans to move and rebuild those fire stations, but now federal stimulus money could speed things along.

Chief Robert Ortega said Thursday, "We’re just hoping to get a little piece of the grants so that we can actually make some improvements to our stations."

Starting next week, fire officials will be looking at all 23 fire stations in the city to see which ones need improvements the most.

"Many of the fire stations need some type of renovation whether it's a new roof, a new HVAC system, whether it's a concrete dive pad," Ortega said.

Fire officials say the federal government is expecting 5,000 to 10,000 requests from fire stations across the country totaling $30 billion, but they will only give out $210 million

"At the very minimum I think I would like to see enough for the construction of a new fire station, that's in the neighborhood of $3 million," Deputy Fire Chief Gil Santistevan said.

Starting Monday, fire officials will have 30 days to get their requests in order and sent out. It could take several months before they find out how much they will get.

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