It was a small building used for multiple purposes.
"I never thought I would be seeing a fire department," Assistant Fire Chief Alfredo Garza said.
For 12 years Garza has given his time to the Roma Volunteer Fire Department.
He said he did his best with what he was given, a small room within the police department.
"It was difficult because we were limited to space," he said.
But on Monday that all changed.
Garza and dozens of his colleagues now have a true place to call home.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony by Roma city officials signified the completion of the new Roma Fire Department.
"We'll have a lot more help now," Garza said. "It'll make our job a lot easier. Our response time will be minimized even more. It will be a lot less than it used to be."
Garza said with more space comes more training---something that could only strengthen the small department.
"Now with this big facility and parking lot area we can have more trainings and bigger trainings---something we can all benefit from," Garza said.