The legacy of Fire Station 3

For more than half a century, firefighters rushed out of a station on Valley Drive to answer emergencies across Las Cruces. They fought fires, responded to accidents and watched the city grow around them. One firefighter even rode his horse to work.

Now the original Fire Station 3, built in 1968, is preparing to make way for something different — a facility designed to help people before emergencies happen and to provide specialized care when they do.

The transition represents more than the replacement of an aging building. It reflects how Las Cruces has changed over nearly six decades, and how the city's approach to public safety is changing with it.

The original station was formally retired during an Oct. 15 celebration of service and groundbreaking ceremony for a new facility that will house the department's Mobile Integrated Health and Project LIGHT programs.

The occasion was personal for Las Cruces Fire Chief Michael Daniels.

"I truly love that station. I started in that station, so I have this unique relationship with it," he said.

The station also occupies an important place in the history of Las Cruces. In the 1950s and 1960s, the city was experiencing rapid growth. Its population more than doubled between 1950 and 1960, creating new demands for public services, including fire protection.

At the time, Las Cruces had only one fire station. City leaders began discussing the need for additional stations to reach neighborhoods farther from the city's center, along with improvements such as fire hydrants on newly developed streets.

The city hired Santa Fe architect Larry Garcia to design two new stations, which were constructed simultaneously in 1967 and 1968. Garcia, recognized as New Mexico's first licensed architect of Hispanic descent, designed Fire Stations 2 and 3 in a modernist style characterized by clean lines and functional simplicity. He also designed the city's former city hall building on Church Street.

Caitlin Beesley, the city's historic preservation specialist, researched the stations as part of the review process preceding the planned demolition of Fire Station 3. Her work uncovered details about the buildings and the people involved in their construction, including concerns raised by then-City Councilor Albert Johnson, who later became Las Cruces' first Black mayor.

The original station's location was significant, too. Valley Drive served as a truck route allowing traffic to bypass downtown, making it a busy corridor. The city installed a traffic signal outside the station to help fire engines enter the roadway safely.

The property had been held in trust by Branigan Memorial Library, another connection to the city's past. Beesley says the significance of the station extends beyond its architecture.

"The buildings that we use every day represent more than just, you know, four walls and a roof," she said.

That history might have remained largely forgotten without the preservation review. Daniels said Beesley's research prompted the department to reconsider its older properties and incorporate information into a historical record it is developing.

The station's operational history is equally substantial. For most of its existence, Fire Station 3 served the west side of Las Cruces with a single engine company. Its location west of the railroad tracks made it particularly important to an area with limited access to other stations.

Even today, Daniels said, the engine operating from the replacement Fire Station 3 next door is among the busiest in the city, with more than 4,000 calls projected this year.

The old station also accumulated its share of unusual memories. It was in the early 2000s, when gasoline prices were a concern, that one firefighter began riding his horse to work. Daniels recalled that the firefighter jokingly cited a city policy requiring adequate parking for employees' transportation and suggested the city should provide a corral and water for his horse. The firefighter eventually retired as a lieutenant.

But the original building also had shortcomings. Beesley's research found that city councilors identified construction problems even before the station was completed. Over time, the building became increasingly inadequate for the department's needs. A new Fire Station 3, funded through the city's 2018 general obligation bond program, opened next door in 2022.

The original building's historic significance complicated plans for its demolition. The State Historic Preservation Office determined it was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and its removal required preservation measures. Those measures include documenting the building's history, preserving selected memorabilia and creating a historical exhibit at Fire Station 9. Some items may also be displayed in the new Fire Station 3.

The new Mobile Integrated Health facility will not incorporate the original station's architectural design, but Daniels said its legacy will be remembered.

The original station was built to answer the public safety challenges of a growing city. Nearly six decades later, the facility taking its place is intended to address a different set of challenges.

A different kind of response

When the original station opened, the city's challenge was getting firefighters to emergencies quickly enough to serve a growing population.

Today, Daniels said, the department is also asking a different question: How many emergencies could be prevented by addressing the problems that lead people to call 911? That thinking led to the development of Mobile Integrated Health more than a decade ago.

Instead of repeatedly sending fire engines and ambulances to people struggling with chronic medical problems or difficult living conditions, the program works to connect them with appropriate health care and community resources. Sometimes the solution involves helping someone find a primary care provider. Other times, it might mean identifying fall hazards in a home, arranging access to air conditioning or helping a resident obtain a wheelchair ramp.

The program has expanded from a single office into a team of nine staff members, seven of whom currently work in a converted classroom at Fire Station 1 near city hall.

Project LIGHT, a newer initiative, applies a similar approach to mental health emergencies. Its teams pair a licensed social worker with a paramedic to respond to people experiencing crises. Depending on the circumstances, dispatchers may also send police officers or traditional emergency units.

Daniels said LIGHT teams are able to release responding fire engines from approximately 85% of their calls and police officers from about half, allowing those resources to return to other duties.

The teams can also connect people directly with mental health services, sometimes avoiding unnecessary trips to emergency rooms.

"Our mobile integrated health team is activated by referral," Daniels explained, while LIGHT teams respond through the 911 dispatch system. The distinction is important. Mobile Integrated Health focuses on follow-up care and preventing recurring emergencies. LIGHT provides an immediate response to people in crisis.

Both programs have grown beyond the space available to them. The new facility will provide offices, work areas, indoor vehicle storage and sleeping quarters for personnel working extended shifts. It is also designed to accommodate the department's goal of eventually providing LIGHT services around the clock. Currently, the crisis-response program operates 12 hours a day, six days a week.

The new building represents a fundamental shift in what emergency services can accomplish, according to Daniels.

"It's the evolution of a 911 system into truly solving community problems," he said.

He said the department has embraced the idea that "past practice isn't always best practice," recognizing that the methods traditionally used to respond to emergencies are not necessarily the best ways to address the underlying problems.

And while the original Fire Station 3 is being remembered for the role it played in the city's past, Beesley sees a connection between its history and the future of the facility that will replace it. When preservationists evaluate buildings, she explained, one important consideration is their impact on the community. The original station earned its historical significance through decades of service, and she believes the new facility could someday be recognized for the same reason.

"The MIH station may be historic someday," Beesley said.