Los Alamos Fire Station No. 4 is set to become a brand-new building. Courtesy/LAC
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
With Los Alamos County Council’s approval of Spartan Construction of New Mexico’s $17.9 million bid; the replacement of Fire Station No. 4 is assured.
Council unanimously approved the bid during its regular meeting April 7. The start date for construction was not determined as of the council meeting, but Project Manager Sobia Sayeda said it is estimated that the project will be completed in November 2027.
The new station will be built next door to the existing one, which is at 4401 Diamond Drive, across from the golf course. Once the new station is constructed, Sayeda said the existing fire station will be demolished and the site will be renovated into open space.
As Council Chair Randall Ryti said, a new fire station is “very much needed.”
Fire Station No. 4 was built in 1964, and its age is seen and felt throughout the building. It doesn’t accommodate different genders, its bays are too tight for the modern-day, larger fire engines and it doesn’t properly address barriers from contaminants.
During the council meeting, Los Alamos Fire Chief Erik Litzenberg said council toured Fire Station No. 4; he added, “I would guess that you would recognize that Station 4 is an old station and I would guess that you would recognize it is ready to be replaced and we have recognized that for some time.”
The proposed design for the new station, Litzenberg said, “meets the industry and professional standards.” It will accommodate a diverse workforce, be designed to ensure everyone’s health and safety, offer space for larger fire engines and allow for future growth.
The new facility, Sayeda explained, will be two-stories and cover 25,500 square feet. The second floor will be 18,000 square feet, which will include residential spaces for 10 first responders. Additionally, the second floor will feature an exercise room and a 300-foot outdoor patio. The bottom floor, she added, will be about 7,5000 square feet. It will be dedicated to equipment storage and other specialized logistics related to EMS, wildland fire and other divisions. Plus, there will be five, double-depth front loaded bays appropriate for modern equipment.
She also touched on the building’s sustainability features.
The goal is for the building to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certified and for the building envelope to be designed to meet current energy codes including International Code Council standards.
“It will be the first fully electric County facility featuring photovoltaic panels and level 2 EV chargers serving five parking spaces for both staff and general public use,” Sayeda said.
She also described the process thus far for securing the new building. VEGA Architecture was contracted in June 2024 to do the design. The future land use map was updated along with a minor zone map update. The construction documents were finalized, which means the next step was awarding the contracting bid.
While the winning bid is $17.9 million, Sayeda said the total project cost is $22.2 million.
To help pay for the project, the County received $2 million from the state capital outlay appropriations and another $2 million from the state fire marshals’ fund.
Public Works Director Eric Martinez added to cover the cost of the project, a budget revision was needed. The revision includes $1.1 million being transferred from the sustainability enhancement fund and then moving approximately $3.5 million from a fund in the County’s CIP budget that is specifically for project cost escalations. Finally, Martinez said some money allocated for the Betty Ehart Senior Center renovation project is being split between fiscal years for the fire station as well as funds budgeted for an RV park.
Councilor Theresa Cull asked for clarification on this point.
County Manager Anne Laurent said, “… because we are trying to fully fund this project in Fiscal Year ‘26, and some of our flexibility was from the proposed FY’27 budget … and we were trying not to change the end balances, and keep it all balanced as currently in the proposed budget, it is deferring or looking for other funding for the extended stay RV park but because that wasn’t funded till FY ’27 we had to use some of the Betty Ehart funds that had not been currently funded this current fiscal year ‘26, but then we replenish them in (Fiscal Year) ‘27.”
The next meeting for council will be the budget hearings for Fiscal Year 2027, scheduled for April 27-29.