Amarillo has officially broken ground on a new $7.3 million fire station in the city’s busy medical district, marking a major step forward in strengthening emergency response capabilities and public safety. The new facility represents a key investment in the Amarillo Fire Department’s (AFD) long-term expansion plan, which aims to improve service coverage as the city continues to grow.
The project includes not only the construction of the new station but also the addition of a $1.6 million firetruck and four new firefighter positions. The city hopes the new station will help reduce emergency response times in the surrounding area, which includes several hospitals, clinics, and high-traffic zones.
Fire Chief Jason Mays said the department’s goal is to expand its reach across Amarillo in the coming years. “Also, with every station needs means we're going to need more firefighters. More firefighters means more fire trucks. So we've been well supported in this city,” Mays said. “We will do everything we can to meet the need for fire service in the city of Amarillo and we'll do the best we can with what we got.”
The fire department has been working closely with city officials to prioritize investments in public safety infrastructure. Mayor Cole Stanley emphasized that the city’s recent budgets reflect this commitment, pointing to significant increases in funding for both personnel and equipment.
“In the previous budget, you know, we had located 29 million dollars. We reprioritized over 14 million of that to just go to public safety, and that was in the form of pay raises and additional equipment and some other stuff,” Stanley said. “In this current budget that we've just passed, I want to say that the fleet services side of that for the fire apparatus and everything that they've asked for is north of 13 million dollars.”
Over the past two to three years, Amarillo has allocated roughly $25 to $30 million to the fire department, a reflection of both the city’s growth and the increasing demands on emergency services. City leaders have cited rising call volumes and expansion into developing areas as key reasons for continued investment.
To ensure the project remains on budget despite ongoing challenges in the construction industry, Stanley said the city has taken steps to protect taxpayers from unexpected cost overruns.
“We've handed off the liability; we transfer that to those general contractors of choice so that they can be the ones that have to manage those funds moving forward,” he said. “So we've got a contracted price not to exceed, and we're looking forward to having them turn the dirt out here.”
Construction is expected to take between 12 and 14 months. When complete, the new fire station will strengthen AFD’s ability to respond quickly to emergencies in one of Amarillo’s most critical districts.
Chief Mays noted that timely completion is essential both for operational readiness and cost efficiency. “Price only goes up, so the faster we can get that station on the ground, the quicker we can make calls and hopefully do that as economically responsible as possible,” he said.
