ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque’s Fire and Police Departments said they’ll be able to rescue people in the water faster, thanks to a new boathouse. AFR and APD will now be housing their airboats and other equipment at a brand-new garage. They said having their boats here saves them 10-15 minutes getting on the water.
On a corner of Tingley Drive just north of the ABQ BioPark, a new garage is storing airboats for Albuquerque’s Fire and Police Departments. Prior to this boathouse, AFR used to store their boats at Station Four near Coronado Park while APD’s equipment was housed near their academy on Second Street.
“The issue there is any time we’d get a call, from driving from that location to our launch point at Tingley and Central is about 15-20 minutes, and so having this location here now cuts that down to five minutes at the most here to our launch location,” said Sergeant Brian Shannon, Albuquerque Police Department.
This garage cost more than $600,000 and was completed last winter to house both AFR and APD equipment. AFR Lieutenant Jason Fejer said their boats were also used to respond to the bosque fires a few weeks ago.
“The bosque fire a couple of weeks ago, we actually had a couple of firefighters on APD’s boat on the river with a pump fighting that fire from the river, so it does give us some flexibility on how we respond,” said Lieutenant Jason Fejer, Albuquerque Fire Rescue.
Although there is no dedicated staffing at the boathouse, APD and AFR said its location still makes it convenient for available staff to report directly to the boathouse. The boathouse will also store ATVs and UTVs for police to patrol the bosque along with other necessary equipment.
“And that allows us to drive from here to across the street right into the bosque instead of having to load these up on a trailer, come here, park, unload them, and then drive in,” said SGT. Shannon.
Both the fire and police departments said the boathouse location will allow them to keep more equipment and do more regular patrols on the river, but said they’ve put those on halt due to low water levels. AFR said they have another UTV coming in the fall that will be stored at the boathouse. It will have a water pump in order to help fight fires.
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