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The City of South Tucson announced the purchase of a new used fire truck, in the wake of the fourth major fire in the 1.2-square-mile city.

The purchase is the city’s most recent effort to invest into its cash-strapped fire department, with city officials saying it’s been a long time coming.

“Our current engines are over 25 years old and constantly breaking down,” South Tucson Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela said in an Instagram post announcing the truck. “This is a game-changer for our response times and safety.” 

The 2002 firetruck, which cost about $20,000, comes from the Northwest Fire District in Marana. The council discussed the purchase in 2024, but there were long delays in getting the truck to South Tucson.

The truck is currently awaiting a makeover and South Tucson’s decals will soon replace the Northwest FIre District ones it's sporting now.

The delivery comes at a much needed time, officials said Tuesday. The city’s existing two fire trucks are constantly at the mechanic for repairs. One truck is dealing with computer issues and the other overheats. And one of the trucks, which was just in the shop for repairs last week, has already returned with another issue.

“$20,000 is the amount we will probably pay in a couple months on the repairs on these two units,” said City Manager Veronica Moreno. 

Fire and Police Chief Danny Denogean said during the meeting that the trucks have been an ongoing problem. In regard to what direction the council should move in next, Denogean said he’s happy with any decision that will better the fire department. 

“But we need to make decisions here soon and get that going,” he said at the meeting.  

In January, the department battled the city’s fourth large fire in recent years at the Arizona Feeds Country Store at 2701 S. Sixth Ave.

This comes on the heels of fires at the old Greyhound Racing Park last May, the Old Spanish Trail Motel last February, and the Crossroads Restaurant in August 2023. 

The fire department has been one of the city’s biggest issues, with many concerned residents attending city council meetings to show their support for maintaining their own fire department. Last June, outgoing Tucson City Manager Mike Ortega urged South Tucson to move away from becoming “increasingly reliant” on the Tucson Fire Department after the Greyhound fire. 

This led the city to move away from the previous automatic aid agreement with Tucson Fire Department to a mutual aid arrangement, in which TFD will assist if it has the resources available.

If TFD is not able to help, the public safety communications center will contact other area departments to help.

While residents want to keep their fire department, they also fear the dangers of not having a fully-equipped fire department, both in terms of equipment and personnel.

Like many public safety agencies, the fire department has had issues with staffing, which is typically especially felt during the holiday season when firefighters want to spend time with their families. But this past holiday season, the incentives that the city provided, including weekend pay and double time holiday pay, allowed for the fire department to stay staffed through the holidays, according to Denogean. He said that was the first time in a long time that the fire department’s schedule has been filled. 

In November, residents approved Proposition 409 which will raise $6.1 million in funding for the fire department. It raises the property tax for a home valued at $250,000 to about $396 per year, with the funding going towards the purchase of new equipment, repairs and renovations at the fire station.

"(We want) to ensure that the community receives uninterrupted levels of services,” Moreno said. “Getting equipment that is reliable and dependable is a big factor in ensuring that if there is a fire, that their response time and the tools that they need to those fires are at hand.”

The council is also looking into working with a subject matter expert that can provide recommendations on how to best spend the funding, with two of three submitted proposals to be presented to the council during the next meeting.

Other meeting actions included:

• The council’s housing governing board approved two resolutions: One for the city to write off about $5,000 in uncollectable debts for the South Tucson Housing Authority and the second to authorize the housing director to submit the 2024-2025 small area fair market rents. They also introduced Irma Gonzalez, the newly appointed housing director who has decades of experience working in public housing. 
• South Tucson’s McKenna Redondo park is now open every Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. The park reopened last May and is now open weekly. 

Susan Barnett is Deputy Editor of Tucson Spotlight and a graduate student at the University of Arizona. She previously worked for La Estrella de Tucson. Contact her at susan@tucsonspotlight.org.

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