Local opinion: Pima voices gratitude for fire station grant

As the Manager of the Town of Pima, I am writing this letter to express gratitude for a $2 million award of congressional funds that we received through Congressman Juan Ciscomani’s office for the purpose of building a new fire station and to explain how vital these funds are to our community. This was one of 13 projects in our district to receive funding, totaling $26 million.

To start off I would like to answer two oft-asked questions. Yes, there is a Town of Pima and no, it is not in Pima County. We are located in Graham County next to the Town of Thatcher and the City of Safford. Our town was founded in 1879 and has long been a tight-knit community. We currently have around 3,000 citizens, but have been growing rapidly, largely due to the nearby Freeport-McMoran copper and gold mine.

Our original Fire Station was completed in 1970 and was built mostly with volunteer labor by citizens and Fire Department members. The funds for materials were raised by selling Mexican food dinners provided by wives of the Fire Department members. This well-loved structure has served its purpose, but has been outgrown, not only by the number of firemen (we have 35 and are one of the largest volunteer fire departments in the state), but also by modern fire trucks. The bays in our station are too small to house regular-sized fire trucks, so we have to pay extra to special order smaller trucks to fit into our bay doors.

The need for a new station has been apparent for years, but the trouble has been funding. With modern codes and safety expectations, relying on local know-how is not an option this time around. Our Fire Department members continue to raise money with community events, but money from fundraisers doesn’t go as far as it used to.

As far as town resources go, Pima is at a disadvantage. As previously mentioned, we are growing in population, which brings extra costs, but not much extra revenue. Municipalities rely heavily on sales tax for their general fund and in this regard, Pima has grown much more slowly. Our close proximity to the larger communities of Thatcher and Safford means that most commercial development in the area happens outside of our borders and draws with it much of the tax dollars spent by our citizens. Most municipalities are constantly looking for grant funds to help improve life for their citizens, whether it be from Federal, State, or private institutions and for us, this is particularly vital. The entire yearly budget for our town without grants is around $3 million so one can imagine what a $2 million award means for us.

Another problem faced by Pima, and small towns in general, is that with a staff of only 12 full-time employees, including police officers, we do not have a professional grant-writing team to consistently procure funds. Thankfully other institutions have stepped in to help us. This award would not have been possible without the help of the Graham County Electric Co-op, the USDA, Local First Arizona, and Congressman Ciscomani and his staff.

One might wonder why a community with 12 full-time employees needs a Fire Department with 35 volunteers. The answer is that they serve much more than within our town limits. They consistently respond to calls in our outlying areas, other municipalities, BLM land, and on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. The Pima Volunteer Fire Department has long been essential for the overall safety of Graham County, and we will forever be grateful for all the efforts that have gone into helping us secure the funds to keep it relevant moving into the future.