Sable Altura Fire Rescue is setting up a new firefighting substation on the grounds of the Sage Ridge Supportive Residential Community in Watkins, a move officials say will sharpen emergency response times across Adams and Arapahoe counties while giving campus residents a shot at hands-on vocational training in emergency medical services.
The partnership between the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and Sable Altura Fire Rescue was announced in a post from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs on Facebook, with Sable Altura Fire Chief Rich Solomon and DOLA Executive Director Maria De Cambra both confirming the new substation. De Cambra said the arrangement demonstrates DOLA's commitment to supporting local governments and strengthening community safety, according to the same post. Arapahoe County Government Commissioner Leslie Summey also announced the new substation alongside the two agencies.
Construction on dedicated living quarters at the Sage Ridge campus is set to begin later this month, with the space designed to house two firefighters on-site. Vocational training for residents is expected to follow later this year, and the substation plans to begin emergency dispatch operations as Sable Altura phases in on-site staffing.
Why the Sage Ridge Campus Was Chosen
Sage Ridge sits on a 560-acre campus in unincorporated Arapahoe County and celebrated its grand opening on September 10, 2025, when Governor Jared Polis and other state leaders attended a ribbon-cutting during National Recovery Month, as Hoodline reported at the time. The campus was designed to serve up to 198 participants annually at full operation, combining 192 transitional housing beds managed by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless with a 26-bed medical withdrawal management facility and outpatient clinic run by AllHealth Network, per the Division of Housing.
The site itself carries a legislative history. Senate Bill 22-211, passed in 2022, authorized $45 million from Colorado's Economic Recovery & Relief Cash Fund to repurpose the former state-owned Ridge View Youth Services Center into the supportive residential community now known as Sage Ridge, according to the Colorado General Assembly. The property was transferred from the Department of Human Services to DOLA's Division of Housing to make the project happen. Sage Ridge was modeled directly on the Fort Lyon Supportive Residential Community in Bent County, a program established by state statute in 2013 on a former military and VA hospital site that has served more than 3,100 individuals in recovery, according to the Division of Housing.
A Model With a Track Record
State evaluators found reason to expect real payoff from that model. A five-year state evaluation of the Fort Lyon program showed a 33% average reduction in public service costs for residents after enrollment, including an 80% decrease in judicial system costs, according to COSCDA. The same findings show that reductions in emergency room visits and legal interactions contributed significantly to those savings. Both Fort Lyon and Sage Ridge combine transitional housing with peer support, healthcare, and vocational training.
Covering 26 Square Miles East of Aurora
Sable Altura Fire Rescue has deep roots in the area it now serves. The department traces back to 1963, when personnel from Lowry Air Force Base and Buckley joined residents to form a volunteer fire district in east Aurora after three earlier attempts failed, according to 5280Fire. It was formally established as the Sable Altura Fire Protection District in the 1970s.
Today, the district covers 26 square miles across unincorporated parts of Arapahoe and Adams counties, protecting major transportation corridors including Interstate 70 and E-470 along with residential developments such as Sky Ranch and Sage Ridge, per the same 5280Fire profile. The district encompasses rapidly growing suburban and semi-rural areas east of Aurora. Sable Altura is dispatched through the South Metro Fire Emergency Communications center and operates within an eastern metro mutual aid group alongside Bennett-Watkins Fire Rescue, Byers Fire, Deer Trail Rural Fire, and Strasburg Fire Protection District.
Dry Conditions Add Urgency
The timing lands amid heightened wildfire concern in the district. On July 20, Sable Altura Fire Rescue and the Arapahoe County Sheriff implemented a Stage 2 Burn Ban across unincorporated district land due to severe dry conditions, prohibiting all outdoor open fires without a district permit, according to Sable Altura Fire Rescue. The restrictions bar campfires, open burning, and outdoor wood stoves to cut wildland fire risk. Hoodline previously covered a similar burn ban imposed after a fast-moving 100-acre grass fire near Deer Trail in April.
This month, Sable Altura joined neighboring I-70 corridor departments, including Bennett-Watkins, Strasburg, and Byers, in joint wildland fire preparedness training to coordinate regional response ahead of peak late-summer fire risk, according to Arapahoe County Public Health. Eastern Arapahoe County fire agencies regularly hold joint exercises to manage grass and brush fire threats.
Several details about the new substation remain unsettled. The timeline for full emergency dispatch integration has not been specified, nor has the number of Sage Ridge residents expected to enroll in the vocational EMS program each year. It is also not yet clear how the added coverage will affect response metrics along the I-70 and E-470 corridors once the substation is fully staffed.
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