The Monument Fire District has big plans this year, including new facilities and a boost to fire mitigation capacity.

The district with 23 daily staff broke ground this month on a new Station 3 by Jackson Creek Parkway, replacing the old building on Woodmoor Drive. Chief Andy Kovacs said the 17,000-square-foot station will have four apparatus bays and firefighter amenities that include a decontamination corridor.

“That’s one effort we are making to reduce the risk to our firefighters,” he said.

The second addition to the Fire Department is arriving later this year from where it is being prefabricated in Texas. The district will receive a three-story training building to place on 14 acres of land near Colorado 115 and the existing Station 1.

Jamey Bumgarner, division chief of administration, told Monument Town Council this week that the new training building would be used to train a live fire no more than three times a year.

He also said the size of the fire and the materials the district is allowed to burn are limited.

“It burns for about four to five minutes before we put it out,” he said.

The training area will not just be for Monument firefighters; Bumgarner said partner agencies in the region will also conduct joint trainings.

“You don’t want the first time you’ve trained together, worked together, to be for the real scenario,” he said during the meeting.

The building is the first part of a planned training area, where firefighters will also have space to practice wildland firefighting techniques. Kovacs said the district typically had to find training opportunities on private property or travel out of the district, preventing staff from being on call.

“We’re finally in a position to start developing that property,” he said.

The last addition, and perhaps the one residents might see most, is a new seasonal crew of seven dedicated only to fire mitigation in the Monument area. Kovacs said the crew will work full time through the summer to remove fire fuel from neighborhoods.

Calling the new strategy more cost-effective, Kovacs said the district previously had regular firefighters working an extra day to contribute to mitigation projects. He said about 30 homeowner associations have so far expressed interest.