The Española Fire/Rescue Department became a paid department in 1998, initially hiring 5 full-time firefighters. Since that time, we have grown to a Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief, one Fire Inspector/Investigator, and fifteen full-time paid firefighters manning three 48-hour shifts of five firefighters each. This small, but highly trained department serves a population of approximately 10,000 and requires all firefighters to be Emergency Medical Technicians to the Basic level and to the Intermediate level by their third year of employment. All firefighters are trained in different specialties such as Swift-Water Rescue, Hazmat Specialist, Building Fire Inspectors, Fire Instructor, Extrication, and much more.

Every year, Española Firefighters attend New Mexico State Firefighters Academy, during the Academy’s fire school sessions. This additional training has broadened Fire/Rescue Department’s ability to share its knowledge with its outlying departments, making it more affordable to those departments to get vital training locally. All members of the department are also certified as Wildland Firefighter I and qualified up to the Engine Boss certification. Recent wildfires have allowed the State of New Mexico to rely on us to provide vital manpower and equipment to statewide areas during wildfire season. Currently, our manning has been supplemented with dedicated volunteers and mutual aid departments from the local areas.

The Española Fire/Rescue Department has a wide variety of fire apparatus including a state of the art 107- foot Pierce Aerial, four class A-Pumpers, one 2,000- Gallon Tender, two brush trucks, two command vehicles, one fire prevention vehicle, and one special operation trailer with off road vehicles and rescue equipment.