Rio Rancho Fire Chief James Wenzel warned city councilors Thursday that a proposed high-hazard facility in Sandoval County could strain the city’s fire department resources and pose unique safety challenges.
Wenzel told the council Nov. 13 that Project Ranger, planned for county property just outside city limits, will trigger automatic aid responses from Rio Rancho Fire Rescue. The facility’s operations involve hazardous materials that require specialized safety protocols.
Days later, California-based defense contractor Castelion officially announced it had selected Sandoval County for the project, a 1,000-acre hypersonic missile manufacturing campus located about 3 miles west of Rio Rancho city limits. The facility promises to bring more than 300 jobs with average salaries of $100,000 and generate more than $650 million in economic output over the next decade.
“Our responders are the primary responders to this location,” Wenzel said during his presentation. “We have to have the ability to understand any variances and exceptions in the suppression systems.”
Safety concerns mount
The project has sparked significant community debate since New Mexico was named a finalist in August. Technical documents show emergency explosion scenarios could affect structures up to 5 miles away, with 5,933 buildings within that radius. The site sits 2.9 miles from Rio Rancho’s Northern Meadows neighborhood.
The fire chief outlined three main concerns: communication gaps between agencies, operational impacts on the department and questions about which jurisdiction has authority over fire code enforcement.
Wenzel noted that communication had been “limited and inconsistent” initially but said recent weeks have shown improvement between the facility operator and Sandoval County.
Call volume projections
Wenzel said the department anticipates six types of emergency calls from the site, ranging from fire alarm activations and medical emergencies to hazardous material incidents and large-scale fires. He compared the facility to Intel’s Sandoval County operations, which generate an average of 75 calls annually for Rio Rancho Fire Rescue.
Project Ranger will primarily pull resources from Fire Stations 2 and 6, forcing other stations to backfill those areas and potentially spreading crews thin across the city, according to the presentation.
Fire code variances
The facility’s developers have requested two major fire code exceptions through the State Fire Marshal and New Mexico Construction Industries Division: no fire sprinklers in hazardous buildings and no fire hydrants for those structures. Both requests reference Department of Defense standard 4145, which prohibits water suppression systems in facilities storing oxidizers due to potential volatile reactions.
The State Fire Marshal approved the sprinkler exemption but deferred the fire hydrant decision to the local authority having jurisdiction, in this case, Sandoval County Fire Rescue.
Wenzel said developers verbally agreed to install fire hydrants and sprinklers in non-hazardous buildings on the property.
Jurisdiction questions
The fire chief said Sandoval County holds official jurisdiction over the site, but Rio Rancho crews would be first responders under the departments’ automatic aid agreement. That agreement, established in 2013 and updated in 2023, automatically dispatches Rio Rancho units to certain areas of the county without requiring a mutual aid request.
The agreement is due for renegotiation in 2027.
Wenzel said officials discussed drafting a memorandum of understanding among Rio Rancho Fire Rescue, Sandoval County and the State Fire Marshal’s office to clarify expectations and involvement for all parties. The Rio Rancho City Council later required such an MOU before releasing any city funds for the project.
“I think an enterprise like this deserves to have that seat at the table,” he said.
Economic development package
County and state officials approved a $10 million incentive package in October under the Local Economic Development Act, with $5 million from the state, $4 million from Sandoval County and up to $1 million from Rio Rancho. The money will be used for land acquisition and infrastructure upgrades, including the extension of Paseo del Volcan.
Officials said the agreement includes full clawbacks if the company doesn’t meet job creation and safety benchmarks. The county also approved $125 million in industrial revenue bonds for the project in August.
Safety planning
The chief said the facility’s high-risk classification will require pre-incident safety planning and aerial familiarization training for all Rio Rancho fire crews across three shifts, not just those stationed nearest the site.
Annual fire inspections would be conducted jointly with the State Fire Marshal’s office to ensure fire suppression and alarm systems meet required standards.
Castelion plans to invest more than $100 million over the first four years of development and expects to break ground in early 2026. The campus will produce solid rocket motors, conduct static tests and assemble components, though no missiles will be launched from the site and no chemical synthesis will occur on-site, according to company officials.
Project Ranger Fire & Safety Risks
“The Rio Rancho Fire Department did what the County Commission refused to do: they acknowledged the real dangers on the West Mesa. Castelion openly admitted that ammonium-perchlorate fires cannot be suppressed with water. RRFD confirmed that in a major incident they would have no option but to let it burn.
Despite that, the County approved this project without a wildfire analysis, without a hazard study, without detonation modeling, and without the environmental data first responders need to protect the public. The area is in extreme drought, with historic high-wind events that create a one-spark wildfire scenario across the entire West Mesa. None of this was addressed before the vote.
The Commission also ignored the financial risk to residents. With 24% of Rio Rancho relying on FHA loans, any increase in fire-risk ratings directly raises mortgage-insurance costs. For seniors and families on fixed incomes, that can mean mortgage distress.
Moving $10 million in public funds onto a project with known fire-suppression gaps and no baseline safety studies is not economic development—it’s reckless governance. The City and County put taxpayers and homeowners at risk to rush approval for a private weapons contractor. Residents deserve transparency, a properly noticed public hearing, and independent wildfire and hazard studies before a single dollar is released.”
— Elaine Cimino
Project Ranger Fire & Safety Risks
“The Rio Rancho Fire Department did what the County Commission refused to do: they acknowledged the real dangers on the West Mesa. Castelion openly admitted that ammonium-perchlorate fires cannot be suppressed with water. RRFD confirmed that in a major incident they would have no option but to let it burn.
Despite that, the County approved this project without a wildfire analysis, without a hazard study, without detonation modeling, and without the environmental data first responders need to protect the public. The area is in extreme drought, with historic high-wind events that create a one-spark wildfire scenario across the entire West Mesa. None of this was addressed before the vote.
The Commission also ignored the financial risk to residents. With 24% of Rio Rancho relying on FHA loans, any increase in fire-risk ratings directly raises mortgage-insurance costs. For seniors and families on fixed incomes, that can mean mortgage distress.
Moving $10 million in public funds onto a project with known fire-suppression gaps and no baseline safety studies is not economic development—it’s reckless governance. The City and County put taxpayers and homeowners at risk to rush approval for a private weapons contractor. Residents deserve transparency, a properly noticed public hearing, and independent wildfire and hazard studies before a single dollar is released.”
— Elaine Cimino
Once a year for fire:safety inspections are not enough. There should be ongoing safety inspections for this type of “high hazard facility” as noted in this article! The fact that the Sandoval County Fire Chief feels that there are major concerns, especially for those in the Rio Rancho Northern Meadows district which is where I live, is very concerning to me. This could affect my drinking/bathing water, pollution, and many other facets of living in this area! All for the sake of money? Economic Development? If people’s lives could be enriched by diseases such as Cancer which is what has happened in most of the other States that have allowed these High Hazard Facilities to be built, in the name of ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, you can keep it!!! Build in some DESERT WAISTLAND!!! We do not need this here in Sandoval County!
What RRFD Raised — and What Is Still Being Ignored
The Rio Rancho Fire Department did something the County Commission never did:
They told the truth about the risks.
Yet even their concerns haven’t been fully acknowledged—not by the County, not by the City, and certainly not by Castelion.
Here’s what the public needs to know:
1. RRFD openly stated they cannot use water to suppress a rocket-motor fire.
Castelion’s own presentation admitted that water cannot be used for ammonium-perchlorate propellant fires.
RRFD would have no choice but to stand back and “let it burn.”
That means:
Runaway fire growth
Toxic plumes
Embers igniting the surrounding drought-stricken West Mesa
Zero ability to intervene or slow the burn
The County rushed this project through without a hazard analysis, wildfire risk assessment, or any plan for how to contain an incident that they already know cannot be fought with standard suppression tools.
2. The County Commission never discussed wildfire risk at all.
Despite RRFD’s warning, the Commission:
Never asked about wildfire potential in an area classified as Extreme Drought
Never asked about wind-driven spread (West Mesa winds routinely exceed 40–60 mph)
Never acknowledged the one-spark ignition risk
Never required a wildfire mitigation plan
This is especially alarming given the location: a flammable high-wind plateau where a single spark has ignited massive wildfires before.
3. No environmental, hazard, or safety studies were completed before the vote.
The Signpost article makes it clear:
RRFD has concerns—because no one gave them a real safety analysis to review.
Missing before approval:
❌ No wildfire behavior modeling
❌ No ammonium-perchlorate burn profile
❌ No toxic-plume modeling
❌ No evacuation modeling for the City
❌ No hydrology or runoff contamination analysis
❌ No water-supply impact review
❌ No independent environmental impact study
❌ No federal review (DOT / DoD / NEPA)
Instead, the County relied on a 16-page Sandia commentary that explicitly says it is NOT an approved explosives-safety document.
They voted anyway.
4. RRFD never received the baseline information needed to judge the risks.
Their concerns reflect that:
They weren’t given the design basis of the facility
They weren’t told the quantities of explosive materials
They didn’t receive site plans showing standoff distances
They weren’t given plume or detonation modeling
They never received wildfire or toxic-runoff data
No first responder can make a safety recommendation under those conditions.
5. Costs to residents were never disclosed — especially for homeowners on fixed incomes.
A major industrial fire or wildfire on the West Mesa would trigger:
Higher wildfire-risk ratings → Higher mortgage-insurance rates
Rio Rancho already has:
24% FHA loans
High mortgage-insurance sensitivity
A large population on fixed incomes
Any increase in fire risk affects monthly mortgage payments, not just property values.
A facility that RRFD must “let burn” will directly raise the fire-risk profile of the entire area.
Residents will feel it in their wallets, not just in their lungs.
6. $10 million in taxpayer money is being spent with none of these issues resolved.
Before any safety study.
Before any public hearing.
Before any environmental review.
Before any emergency-response plan.
Before addressing RRFD’s warnings.
The City and County pushed this project forward knowing the risks, while refusing to slow down long enough to conduct basic due diligence.
Bottom Line
RRFD raised legitimate concerns.
The City and County ignored the biggest ones:
Wildfire risk
Water-incompatible rocket-motor fires
Toxic contamination
High-wind spread
Homeowner insurance impacts
Lack of baseline safety data
No environmental review
No federal review
No public hearing
This community is being asked to carry all the risk—financial, environmental, and safety—so that a private weapons manufacturer can claim “speed to market.”
That is unacceptable.