Stansbury and local leaders celebrate funding for new fire station in Peralta

PERALTA — When Jeremy Fiedler was announced as the new fire chief for the Peralta Fire Department in November 2023, he became the first to be paid in the town’s history. Succeeding John Dear, who held the position on a volunteer basis, Fiedler took over a department that consisted of eight volunteer firefighters and an over-50-year-old fire station that wasn’t big enough to house all of the department’s equipment.

He had his work cut out for him. But he came into the role with several specific goals in mind: secure funding for a fire station, find and hire emergency medical field staff members and install a new water supply for the firefighter.

“I promised the mayor and the council that I would get things on the path of completion,” he said.

Fast forward 18 months and all of those goals have been realized. The department has added three paid part-time emergency medical field positions, is currently in the process of installing a fire hydrant in the town proper, and with the help of Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., and her office, has secured $1 million in federal funding to start building a new station.

This funding was secured during last year’s round of Congressional Community Project Funding requests and spearheaded by Stansbury’s Valencia County field representative, Jacob Trujillo. A native of Peralta, Trujillo’s father had worked for the department as a volunteer firefighter. So when Stansbury’s congressional district was redrawn in 2021 by the state Legislature, her district now encompasses a portion of Valencia County that included Peralta.

Trujillo began setting up meetings with Peralta officials to determine their needs and how Stansbury’s office could help. Top of mind was public safety and improving the existing infrastructure of the fire department.

”It was brought up that this community is aging ... it needs EMS services, and it’s time to make investments in a new fire station,” Trujillo said.

The current station, which sits just off Bosque Farms Boulevard at 3 James Road is barely big enough to house the department’s three firetrucks and emergency vehicles and requires the firefighters to put on their gear in the back of the garage. There are no beds in the station, so firefighters and EMS personnel sleep in chairs during their shifts.

Plans for the new station include bunk bed space, a helicopter pad and a larger campus to house all of the department’s vehicles and equipment. The $1 million will be used to build the foundation of the new fire station. The town will still need an additional $6 million to complete the station, according to Bryan Olguin, mayor of Peralta. He plans to secure federal funds to do so.

Olguin is working on scheduling meetings with U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich and is hopeful he will be able to secure the $6 million needed within the next few years. In the meantime, he is appreciative for the funding Peralta had already received.

“This is really huge for us,” he said. “It shows that we’re listening to the public and we want a beautiful campus and we want people to be proud of their community.”