After years of planning, data collection and funding pursuits, Rio Rancho Fire Rescue is on the verge of breaking ground on Fire Station 8 — the city’s first new fire station since 2011 — with a bid closing March 26 and shovels expected in the ground as early as late April.
Fire Chief James Wenzel said the project is the product of years of strategic forecasting, a fortunate land deal and state funding that came together at just the right time.
“Everything kind of hit just right,” Wenzel said. “We’re pretty happy and excited about that.”
A long time coming
The last time Rio Rancho built a new fire station was in 2011, when Station 7 opened. Planning for Station 8 began in earnest around 2021 and 2022 under then-Fire Chief James DeFillippo, who identified the south part of the city as the area most in need of additional coverage due to population growth, increased call volume and the strain on existing units.
The city’s Geographic Information System (GIS) division played a critical role that helped leadership pinpoint the right location, according to Wenzel.
“Our GIS division did a really good job on showcasing the different layering — heat mapping, response mapping, coverage maps — that allowed us to really look at Station 8 and say, yes, this will be a good location,” Wenzel said.
A land swap with Rio Rancho Public Schools secured the site, located across from Maggie Cordova Elementary near Veranda and Cabazon, and accelerated the timeline considerably.
Funding falls into place
Financing the project required patience and persistence. The state approved a $1 million appropriation in 2024 to fund the design phase, followed by an additional $5 million in 2025. A revenue bond is covering the remainder of the construction cost.
Once the bid is awarded — expected at the April 9 City Council meeting — construction will begin, with the build time to be finalized after conversations with the awarded contractor.
Why this location?
The location was driven by data. Wenzel said Station 1 and units covering the south part of the city have seen steadily increasing call volumes in recent years, and growth in areas like The Village, the Rust corridor and Unit 10 subdivisions is expected to continue. Station 8 is designed to relieve pressure on those units while providing faster response times to a rapidly expanding portion of the city.
Deputy Chief Jake Bailey told the Governing Body during a work session Tuesday that the station will also include a space designated for use as a polling site during election season.
Looking ahead
Wenzel said the same data-driven process that produced Station 8 is already being applied to planning for Station 9, Station 10 and beyond — examining not just where the next station should go, but what apparatus it should house and how it fits into the department’s long-term response architecture.
“Our job is to really nail down exactly where the next station has to go, the next station after that, and having those conversations early,” Wenzel said.
Other Department Updates
Rio Rancho Fire Rescue has added three advanced field medical procedures that go beyond the standard scope of practice for New Mexico paramedics, each requiring a rigorous approval process overseen by a Medical Director that can take up to nine months.
Liquid plasma administration allows paramedics to treat patients with severe bleeding or significant hypotension in the field using an oxygen-carrying blood product, rather than normal saline. Bailey said the capability places Rio Rancho among roughly 1% to 2% of ground ambulance agencies nationwide able to deliver plasma before a patient reaches a hospital.
Finger thoracostomy gives paramedics a tool to rapidly relieve life-threatening pressure in the chest caused by trauma, restoring lung function in the field. Medication-facilitated airway management — formerly called rapid sequence intubation — allows specially trained paramedics to secure a patient’s airway using medications when it cannot be safely managed otherwise, with significant benefits for neurological outcomes.
The city is also planning an apparatus bay addition at Fire Station 3, with bids expected in the coming weeks and the project estimated at approximately $1 million. The expansion would allow the two-bay station to house additional apparatus or equipment currently stored outside and could create space for specialty positions serving the northern part of the city.
The department has sent 30 members to paramedic school over the past two years and currently has 10 in training set to graduate and return to service in May. Wenzel said that once the graduating class completes the program, the city expects to have approximately 40 paramedics on staff — a milestone he called a strong example of what Rio Rancho is doing well compared to peer departments nationally.
“Seeing programs like that, talking to different fire chiefs — as much as it’s learning, it’s also comparing ourselves to other departments and seeing, hey, we’re actually doing really well in other areas,” Wenzel said.