La Joya’s volunteer fire department will soon be getting a new fire station, thanks to a generous donation of federal funds.

La Joya firefighters have been doing their own improvements on the 32-year-old fire station, but now with a $1.2 million grant, they will soon be able to have a new station.

Fire Chief Frankie Joe Salinas says he's been advocating for this doe a while speaking to the mayor and Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo).

"We started feeding him the information, the ratio of calls that we have here at the fire station, and the support that the community of La Joya needed for the first responders," Salinas said.

Cuellar says after hearing about the fire station, he decided to put the federal funds to use where it's needed most. Cuellar says in total, the new building will cost around $1.7 million, with the rest of the money coming from tax payers.

The new building will have updated electrical systems, a new heating system, washer and dryer machines, bay doors, a sealed roof and a better area for training.

Construction on the new building will begin next year and will take about 12 months to get completed.