ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Crews are completing the finishing touches on a new fire station in southwest Albuquerque before it opens its doors. The purpose of the new station is to reduce response times by up to half. Currently, Albuquerque Fire Rescue Station 14 and Bernalillo County Station 33 cover this area, which can be a six to eight-minute drive away depending on the location. This new station will free up those stations to cover their own districts and provide faster response times to this area of town in as little as four minutes.
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This amount of time is crucial when dealing with emergencies. “When you’re talking about saving lives, a life can be saved in a matter of seconds,” Lt. Jason Fejer said with Albuquerque Fire Rescue. “So anytime we can get to a scene quicker to either initiate EMS care or put water on a fire, the quicker we can get there, the better the chances of having a positive outcome are.”
There have been a few house fires in the area where having a closer station would have improved response, and likely the damage would have been lessened. “Two of those house fires were in an area that would be better served by having a fire engine here,” Fejer said. “We’re right in the middle of County 33 and Station 14.”…