Globe Miami Times Connecting you to the Pulse of Globe Miami
Globe City Council recently concluded its Strategic Action Plan update, focusing on the “four pillars of community wellbeing”—public safety, infrastructure, quality of life, and financial sustainability—as they prepare for the 2025-2026 budget in the coming months.
The SAP acts as a guide for Council’s future agendas and is created through a collaborative process with participation from all Council members. As part of this process, SAP groundwork is divided into four workgroups representing each of the pillars, making the process easier to negotiate.
One of the most important aspects of the SAP, and a central function of municipal government, is public safety, comprising police, fire, and magistrate court.
Like Globe’s physical infrastructure, including water and wastewater, streets and sidewalks as well as parks and other amenities meant to improve citizens’ lives, Globe’s police and fire departments are built on foundations that are often nearly as old as the City itself.
The Globe firehouse is more than 100 years old, but some of its equipment is also approaching obsolescence.
Not only is the GFD charged with protecting the 7,300-odd residents of the City of Globe, it also shares responsibility with other agencies to serve a wider population as first responders to the 29,500 residents from surrounding areas as well as tens of thousands of travelers—as many as 97,500 overnight visitors annually—according to the most recent Economic Impact of Travel report by Dean Runyan and Associates.
In 2021, the City was able to leverage funds to purchase a Type-3 wildland fire engine capable of handling extreme situations in the washes and mountains throughout the region as well as those within the city proper. But the Department still has many needs to be addressed in order to modernize operations.
As part of the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) funding process, Globe Fire Chief Gary Robinson gave a presentation to Council on February 11, outlining the need and the cost for a new ladder truck for the Department as the City’s long-range planning continues.
The need for the new vehicle comes in the wake of the forced-retirement of Globe’s previous aerial ladder truck. The 32-year-old piece of equipment failed a recent third party inspection required for all aerial fire apparatus.
This inspection came with the recommendation that the unit be completely refurbished or replaced. Given the 32-plus years of service this apparatus has already provided along with the difficulty in acquiring parts, refurbishment is a cost prohibitive move with a very limited return for the investment.
“We’ve done everything possible to try to keep that [vehicle] on the road and operational,” Robinson says. “But there’s only so much that can be done when it comes to keeping that equipment serviceable and useful.”
He pointed out that in addition to difficulties with basic repairs, the changing face of the City of Globe and responsibilities through a “Mutual Aid Compact,” having modern equipment is more important than ever.
The Compact requires signatories to provide support to other agencies in the event of emergencies, such as floods, wildfires or other unforeseen and unexpected disasters.
The Department must also meet Insurance Services Office (ISO) requirements that affect the cost and ability of residents and businesses within the City to purchase necessary insurance.
Among the requirements affecting Globe are the existence of five or more 3-story buildings in the city—with more on the way—and the need for sufficient water volume to meet our larger fire flow requirements. Additionally, the existence of special facilities, such as nursing homes, senior housing, high occupancy buildings and industrial facilities necessitate the capabilities this type of apparatus provides.
Given the terrain and weather patterns in the region, the GFD also has to be prepared for dangerous operations including swiftwater or high angle rescues.
“Your equipment is part of it, but there’s so much associated with ISO: Your training; your communication; your water supply, your mutual aid agreements,” says Mayor Al Gameros. “There’s a lot to encompass, but the only thing that we can control with apparatus is making sure that our equipment remains 20 years old or less, because that could affect our insurance rates.”
The ladder truck will cost in the neighborhood of $2.4 million, but even after the new truck is purchased, there will be issues with storage when it is not in use, due to the limitations of the GFD’s 100-plus-year-old firehouse.
One of the highest-profile projects the City is focused on is building a new and modern firehouse on East Ash Street to replace the building it shares with the Globe Police Department across from the Municipal Building on Pine Street.
The cost of the project is now estimated to be about $13.5 million. The new facility will be state-of-the-art both technologically and environmentally, with a focus on the safety of Globe firefighters and an eye to improved recruitment and retention of employees in the future.
Council hoped to bring in grants and low-interest loans from the USDA, but given the changing state of federal funding, the City may have to go with more “traditional” means of financing, such as bonds or other forms of borrowing.
The proposed fire station would not only modernize the Department and help with staffing, but it could also become an important feature in the Globe community.
Councilmember Mariano Gonzalez spent 26 years in emergency management statewide, both as Director of Emergency Operations for Gila County and as the State Emergency Response and Recovery Plan Coordinator at the State Division of Emergency Management.
He has seen both the importance of being prepared and fully staffed, but also how public safety infrastructure can be an asset to the community. Gonzalez says that during his tenure with the County, he watched as the City of Payson built its main fire station and how it became a central gathering place.
“Suddenly, Main Street was a hub: They hold public meetings there, FEMA classes are being offered, and there are other entities using the conference room,” Gonzalez says. “It’s going to help with the firefighter retention too, because they’re going to be in safer circumstances in a modern facility. Our firehouse is 100 years old. That sounds great for a museum, but it’s not a museum right now, it’s an actual fire station.”
The new station would also improve the long-term health of firefighters, with features that reduce exposure to exhaust fumes and other toxic emissions and the Department is also exploring ways to help its employees cope with the stresses of the job through counseling and other modern techniques.
Additional CIP requests for GFD include fall and escape harnesses; battery-operated chainsaws and circular saws to replace gas-powered tools; battery-operated vent fans used to evacuate smoke from buildings; hose replacement; extrication and other necessary emergency tools and exhaust removal equipment to reduce firefighters’ exposure to carcinogens from diesel exhaust in the current building.
“Whether you’re a government entity; whether you’re corporate or whether you’re just a traveling tourist, every one of them expects us to respond with the same quality as Phoenix Fire,” Gonzalez says. “If you’re on the road to Tonto Basin and have an accident, they expect the same response time.”
Gameros points out that providing public safety services is a requirement and cannot be approached like a for-profit business.
“Public safety is a different animal,” Gameros says. “There’s a lot of liability and you have to have certifications. The other thing we need to be able to do is compete with wages and pay market value in the future to be competitive to keep our people.”
Journalist, writer and editor who has worked for community newspapers for more than 15 years. After four years at Davis-Monthan AFB and a few years living in Tucson, moved to California to find his fortune. He is happy to be back in Arizona, in the mountains he loves.
