Mountain View Fire Rescue has announced that it will be adding a second battalion to its ranks.

Rick Tillery, spokesman for Mountain View Fire Rescue, said due to the department growing so large and being spread out geographically, it made sense to add “extra weight” to crews.

Tillery explained that a battalion is an organizational structure for managing multiple units in a fire district within its area of responsibility. The new battalion will be comprised of about 80 personnel.

“We cover from the top of Flagstaff up past Mead, and when you have one chief on at a time, trying to cover that is challenging, I mean physically,” said Tillery. “So, this adds a lot more direct supervision and responsibility and they’re able to oversee operations day-to-day better, if they’re split like that.”

Mountain View Fire Rescue serves around 250 square miles including Boulder, Dacono, Erie, Mead, Niwot, Superior, and unincorporated areas in Boulder and Weld counties.

According to Mountain View Fire Rescue’s Facebook post, three battalion chiefs were chosen to operate Mountain View Fire Station No.5 — Battalion Chief Sean Flagg who will run the A Shift, Battalion Chief Mike Lee who will operate the B Shift and Battalion Chief Tim Mallon.

Tillery said the three newly-elected battalion chiefs began their roles in the first or second week of June.

Mountain View Fire Rescue’s Station No. 5 is at 2701 S. Indiana St., in Superior.

“From the reports, everything is going really well. The local community down in Superior has already noticed that there’s a (battalion chief) station out of 5, so it’s comforting for them to know that there’s senior leadership that has a presence down there,” Tillery said.

And along with their new roles, comes a brand new firetruck, Fire Engine 2270.

Newly-elected Battalion Chief for Mountain View Fire Rescue, Tim Mallon, said that although the role has been challenging so far, he is ecstatic to begin leading fire crews.

“It’s like learning how to ski, when you don’t know how you use every muscle because you don’t know which ones not to use. I’m trying to figure out what muscles to use,” Mallon said. “Having gone into the role, I realize I still have a lot to learn. Right now I’m soaking it all in, keeping my ears open and my mouth closed.”

According to Tillery, Mountain View Fire Rescue’s headquarters will be at Mountain View Fire Rescue Station No. 5, as it is more centrally located within its coverage area. Previously, its headquarters was at Station No. 13.

“It’s really exciting, because we have a new headquarters which will help keep us centered in the district and now having two battalions it’s going to do a lot for our residents and their peace of mind knowing that we have leadership on the ground day to day,” said Tillery.

Mountain View Fire Rescue has 14 stations, but only 11 are used to respond to calls, according to Mallon. Two of the other stations are devoted to housing fire apparatus and one is an administrative building.