August 10 – The New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration has allocated funding to recruit 190 firefighter and EMS positions at 59 local governments and departments across the state.
The $24.9 million in grant money was appropriated by the Legislature earlier this year to offset new firefighter and EMT salaries for three years, the agency said in a news release last week. The funding stream is similar to an allocation for police recruitment and retention grants that was awarded this year, said Henry Valdez, spokesman for the Department of Finance and Administration.
The grants will fund three full-time jobs in the city of Santa Fe and six full-time jobs in Santa Fe County, Valdez said, adding that the program also will help transition volunteer firefighters and first responders into paid employees.
“We put an emphasis on giving awards to rural communities,” Valdez said in an interview. “Of those six positions [in Santa Fe County]“It gives the province the opportunity to staff stations with full-time staff, whereas previously this was often done by volunteers.”
The press release states that the funding is intended to improve response times, department capacity and Insurance Services Office ratings, factors that impact insurance rates in various locations.
“As fires — and especially wildfires — become more frequent and intense in and around New Mexico communities,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement, “it makes sense to give them the tools to protect people, pets, livestock and property.”
