New Mexico Fire Department Can't Afford Navajo Nation Calls
San Juan County volunteer firefighters respond to about 2,000 calls a year on the Navajo Nation. And they’ve done it for more than two decades. But the New Mexico county fire department said it can no longer afford to provide emergency services to the eastern portion of the Navajo Nation.
San Juan County Fire Department’s deputy chief Craig Daugherty said the department has recently lost 45 percent of its budget to declining tax revenues. He has asked the tribe for $810,000 to keep three stations running and staffed on the reservation.
"We don’t want to close these stations," Daugherty said. "It’s critical to provide those services to the folks out there. During these economic times, we can no longer subsidize the Navajo Nation and we’re asking them to help us or come in and run them themselves if they think they can do it at a cheaper price."
The tribe runs its own fire department on the Arizona side of the reservation.
Tribal officials have said the Navajo spend enough money in border towns to help pay for the service. But Daugherty said those towns have recently been annexed out of the county. So they don’t see those dollars.
