About the City of Albuquerque

The City of Albuquerque is located in the center of New Mexico. Between the foothills of the Rocky Mountains to the east, the Rio Grande river running through the heart of the city and the Petroglyph National Park to the west, Albuquerque offers a unique setting like no other city. The city is 182 square miles, and the elevation is 5,200 feet with an estimated 2017 population of 585,000. Albuquerque is the state’s largest city and has 310 days of sunshine, which make it possible to ski the slopes of the Sandia Mountains and play a round of golf, all in the same day. Major industries in the area include defense contracting, healthcare, software development, semiconductor manufacturing, telecommunications, data centers, religious and nonprofit organizations, the University of New Mexico and tourism. Recently, Netflix committed to making the city of Albuquerque as the site of their new U.S. production hub — which the company said will bring upwards of $1 billion in production money to New Mexico over the next decade and up to 1,000 production jobs per year.

The Department

Albuquerque Fire Rescue was established on June 1, 1900, and has a Class 1 rating (the highest score possible) from the Insurance Service Office (ISO). Today, the department has 22 fire stations, 729 full-time firefighters and 37 civilian personnel. Fire stations are staffed with firefighters working a 48/96 shift with daily minimum staffing of 165. Over one-third of the department's fire stations require Firefighters with specialized training. This includes our five Wildland Task Force stations, two Hazardous Materials Task Force stations, and one Technical Rescue Task Force station. Our frontline apparatus consists of; 22 Fire Engines, 21 ALS Rescues, 1 BLS Rescue, 7 Ladders, 2 Hazardous Materials Squads, 1 HTR Squad, 4 Battalion Chiefs, 1 Paramedic QA, 5 Brush Trucks, 1 Air Truck, and 1 Rehab Unit. Each Engine is staffed with a minimum of four (Officer, Driver, and two Firefighters) and each ALS Rescue has minimum staffing of two (Paramedic Officer and Paramedic Driver). We also operate one ALS Engine with a Paramedic Driver, so that each district has an ALS response.

Our department responded to 105,526 calls in 2019, making us the 30th busiest fire department in the country. We are also responsible for providing fire and EMS response to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. This is a world-renowned attraction and the largest ballooning event in the world; it is also one of the most photographed events in the world, as well as the largest annual international event held in the United States.

A Diverse Number of Support Divisions within the Department

While the majority of our Firefighters are assigned to frontline apparatus and respond to emergencies, we also have several Support Divisions that make up the rest of our department. There are 136 uniform firefighter positions and 37 civilian positions within these Support Divisions. These Divisions include our Fire Administration, Alarm Room, Fire Marshal’s Office (Fire Inspections and Plans Checking), Technical Services, Training Academy, Community Paramedicine, Pharmacy, Records Management, Fire Investigations, Emergency Management, Logistics, Fleet, Capital Improvements, and Special Operations all make up the Support Divisions. We have more resources than any other fire department in the state of New Mexico and offer a diverse career path for our firefighters.

AFR is one of the only fire departments in the country with uniform Firefighters assigned to receive and dispatch 911 calls. There are a total of 27 Dispatchers assigned to our Alarm Room working on four separate shifts. The minimum staffing for each shift is 5 Dispatchers (at the rank of Driver) and one supervisor (rank of Lieutenant). Having our uniform dispatchers provides an advanced level of service to the community. The person answering the 911 call and assisting the caller has real-world experience as a firefighter. These dispatchers also monitor each of our emergency scene incidents, including our structure fires, to ensure our firefighters are safe.

The Fire Investigations Division is made up of eight firefighters and one civilian. Each Fire Investigator receives their law enforcement certification and additional training through the National Fire Academy. The Fire Investigations Division Captain, one Lieutenant and civilian administrative assistant work four 10-hour days. The other six Arson Investigators work a 48/96 shift, with one Lieutenant and one Driver on A, B, and C-Shift. The minimum staffing for the 48/96 shift is at least one Fire Investigator. We also have an accelerant detection canine assigned to one of our Fire Investigators.

Our Fire Marshal’s Office (FMO) is responsible for the implementation, administration, and enforcement of the City of Albuquerque’s Fire Code (Ordinance 0-2017-020) – which incorporates the International Fire Code (2015 edition), and the NFPA 101 Life Safety Code (2015 edition), along with some local amendments. The Fire Marshal is appointed by the Fire Chief and manages a program that consists of twenty-seven uniformed firefighters and two civilian employees. The Plans Checking Division within FMO is responsible for document review, approval, and inspection of all commercial construction and building alterations. The division will also review plans and conduct inspections on all installed or modified fire protection systems. We have the largest FMO in the state and are working on expanding this division.

H.E.A.R.T. (Home Engagement & Alternative Response Team) is the name of the AFR Community EMS Program. This program has two Paramedic Drivers, two Paramedic Lieutenants and one Paramedic Captain operating on a 40-hour work week. The goals of the HEART program are to identify repeat patients and connect them to appropriate medical and social services to help reduce the reliance on 911, fall prevention, and harm reduction related to opiate overdoses.

With uniform positions in Records Management reviewing reports, nearly twenty uniform instructors teaching Fire and EMS courses, uniform Firefighters managing our technical services to uniform members operating our pharmacy, we offer more support positions than any other department in the state.

Department funded Paramedic Training each year

As the first-responders on all medical emergencies within the city, each of our firefighters is trained to a minimum level of EMT-Basic. AFR has partnered with the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College to host a Paramedic Training School at our Fire Academy and the EMSA each year. We are one of three Fire Departments in the country that still has their own internal Paramedic School. This is a condensed Paramedic training program that allows us to complete the Paramedic training in 11- 12 months rather than the standard two-year program, through a traditional college program. We have a fair and objective testing process for those interested in this training.

Department funded Professional Development and Special Operations Training

We have a high standard for our department and want to ensure that our firefighters are successful at each rank. Therefore, we offer advanced level training through the rank of Driver, Lieutenant, Captain, and Battalion Chief. Each AFR rank specific training course is paid for by the department. All of our Battalion Chiefs receive Blue Card ICS training too. Firefighters assigned to one of our Wildland, Technical Rescue or Hazardous Materials stations also receive advanced level training paid for by the department.