Mesa Fire Fighters Campaign for New Fire Stations

August 31, 2009 – As the City of Mesa, Arizona, has grown, so has fire fighter response times to area emergencies. In an effort to reduce response times to meet national safe fire fighting standards, Mesa Local 2260 fire fighters worked with the Mesa City Council to relocate an existing fire station and build two more.

Construction has begun on two stations with the third scheduled to break ground in October 2009. “Through political action and public support, we were able to pass two bond issues last November,” says Local 2260 President Bryan Jeffries. “The money generated will fund the construction of the new fire stations. This is a huge victory for both citizen and fire fighter safety.”

Although NFPA standards recommend that the first responding apparatus be on the fire scene within in four minutes, in some areas of Mesa, response are as long as 10 minutes.

Phoenix Local 493 fire fighter Scott Somers, who sits on the Mesa City Council, helped garner support from other council members. Following grassroots campaigning by Local 2260 fire fighters, the voters passed two bond issues to provide $170 million for public safety and street projects.

All three fire stations should be operational in mid-2010.

The three new stations may still not be enough to provide adequate coverage for Mesa. The last assessment conducted for the City indicated five new stations are needed.

“We have applied for some federal grants,” says Jeffries. “If those are approved, we should be able to fund the other two.”