South Tucson Fire Captain speaks on traditions as future of fire department remains uncertain

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The South Tucson Fire Department has served the 1.2 square mile city since 1941 and has given back in many ways throughout the years. One tradition the South Tucson Fire Department has held over the years is their toy giveaway, but the future of the fire department is still uncertain.

The South Tucson City Council is continuing to work through negotiations with the City of Tucson to outsource the fire department, bringing the Tucson Fire Department in to take over. In the most recent city council meetings, council members discussed getting negotiations done as quickly as possible.

Fire Captain Andy Luna has been with the fire department for 13 years but grew up in South Tucson. He started the tradition of the fire department’s toy giveaway 20 years ago before he was a fire captain. He was working with the Tucson Fire Fighters Association for their toy giveaways in the Tucson area and wondered why South Tucson hadn’t had one.

“I grew up here, I still know a lot of the families that live here. So for me, it was special that I was able to do something for the community and will continue to do this for these families.”

So the tradition began, and the most recent toy giveaway saw a big turnout from the community. Luna said more than 100 families were able to get toys on Dec. 23 at the John Valenzuela Youth Center.

“We have families that expect and know this is going to happen this year, so it’s always a good turn out and it’s always nice to see families that I’ve seen before,” said Luna.

He said the event wouldn’t have been possible without the Tucson Marine Corps League, Sunnyside High School faculty and their wrestling team, Tucson Police Department, and the Tucson Fire Fighters Association. The Fire Fighters Association held a Chili Cook Off earlier last year that helped raise money for the event.

When asked how Luna felt about the possibility of the 2023 toy giveaway being the last, Luna said, “I’m going to still provide as much as I can the fire department is still going to provide as much as they can to the kids, to the community. So I try not to think about that too much because we don’t know what’s going to happen. So it would be sad for it to go, so we’re just going to continue doing what we’re doing while we can.”

KGUN9 will continue to provide updates on decisions relating to the South Tucson Fire Department.