Municipalities, county prepare for potential wildfires in wake of LA fires

CORRALES — Strong winds, dry weather and power lines that can throw a spark. That’s the disaster that didn’t wait to happen in Los Angeles, California. Sound familiar, New Mexico?

Corrales certainly thought so, because the village’S first responders are warning people in town about wildfire safety.

“Based upon what we’ve seen in California this last week and, we work with (Corrales Police and Fire) and get briefings from them on a regular basis as to how they would handle various situations as they come into being, but considering the sadness and considering the concern that is still going on in California, we thought it would be appropriate for Anthony, Tanya and Vic to go forward with how they look at situations like that,” Mayor James Fahey said at the Jan. 14 council meeting.

He added that it is an important issue to Corrales.

“I have two folks that I visited within the last week who have not been able to get insurance on their homes here in Corrales and had to go and find them in other places. I also have associates and friends in Santa Fe who have lived in the hills and are also struggling to get insurance. So this sort of preparation emergency preparedness that we’re talking about affects everyone in the village,” he said.

Fire Chief Anthony Martinez says they have received a lot of calls and questions about the situation in Corrales tied to the L.A. fires.

“When things are in the news and fresher on the mind, seeing it live, the tragedy that’s going on, there’s a lot of concern,” he said.

Emergency Manager Tanya Lattin first went into plans for any similar situations Corrales might have.

“Emergency preparedness is near and dear to my heart and to the village. It should be one of the big things we do is we try to get the information out, but the first line of defense is yourself,” she said. “Have a plan, be prepared to go to our website. I’m always putting stuff out already for about three days. Because yes, we’re the fire department, but if it’s a wildland fire, we’re going to be going out trying to stop the fire from burning your homes down. So if you’ve got to evacuate, yes we will have evacuation centers. We’ll have animal evacuation centers, but you need to be able to get your animals out.”

A lot of the onus is on the home and animal owner because fires can spread quickly and departments aren’t always prepared to warn people. In Corrales, a majority of the community has farm animals that need transported, but not everyone has the equipment to transport them. Additionally, Lattin said they can’t force people to leave their homes if they don’t want to evacuate.

“We can keep you from going back, but we cannot physically remove you because you are the property owner, you are the adult and you have the right to get out. But we really ask; we don’t tell people to evacuate willy-nilly, and I’m sure Chief Martinez will say it. If you see smoke, you smell smoke, you’re not happy with the smoke, you also don’t have to wait for us to try to evacuate. You can leave,” she added.

Martinez agreed, saying evacuation hopefully doesn’t happen but if it does residents should be prepared.

“When we have a high wind event in the village Corrales, like a red flag day, that’s what California is dealing with, was high winds. It’s really hard to stop a fire in high winds, and we have those wind days and what we do and we have been doing is we have a red flag protocol,” he said.

Red flag warnings are sent out on windy days as a message to residents and fire departments everywhere indicating there is a high danger of fire. On these days, outdoor burning is prohibited. Staff is added and fire departments are patrolling the bosque for fires started by people.

The departments also make sure their water resources are ready to go on those days in case there is a fire.

One issue Martinez brought up was not having water readily available in the bosque. More specifically, the current system only allows for fire suppression, not extinguishing large fires like in LA.

“I can’t speak on behalf of California, but I’ve been trying to follow the news and depend on what I read. I don’t know if it’s factual or not, but I could tell you that most water systems are designed for one or two houses, or in a commercial area for a large commercial building, not for the whole neighborhood to be on fire,” he said. “Our system is designed for one hydrant at a thousand gallons per minute; that’s like one home.”

He said a wildfire like the ones in L.A. consumes a lot of water. To help with bosque fires, Martinez and his staff have been pushing for funding to put hydrants as close to the bosque as possible. He mentioned specifically East Meadowlark Lane and Andrews Lane.

There are also public efforts to clean up the Corrales bosque of downed and dead wood. The Corrales Bosque Advisory Commission Chair, Joan Hashimoto, was one of the leads at the Jan. 18 wood pickup.

“This is one way we can help,” she said.

Though the team of volunteers was small Saturday, they got a lot done. One little helper, a preschool-aged boy, was excited to work to remove wood from the bosque. It was a bonus for him to get to see Martinez doing his job in person.

Other communitiesCorrales isn’t the only fire department looking into better resources. Bernalillo Fire Chief Mike Legendre says wildfire preparedness is very important.

“We have implemented in coordination with surrounding departments the CWPP (Community Wildfire Protection Plan), which pre-plans natural hazard mitigation within our communities. It is imperative for homeowners to utilize Firewise guidelines to create a defensible space for their property,” he said.

Bernalillo, like Corrales, contributes to cleaning up the bosque.

“Thinning of the bosque area was done by the conservancy a few years back. Annual maintenance on this area is conducted. Our crews conduct bosque patrols, and we have extra staffing during high potential times, such as holiday weekends/gatherings. We have designated burn and no-burn days and encourage our residents to utilize the burn line. We have also used the town water bills to warn residents of high fire danger. Homeowners are encouraged to work with their homeowner’s insurance to ensure coverage prior to an emergency occurring,” Legendre said.

For Rio Rancho, similar mitigation is on the way.

“RRFR currently has no active bosque mitigation at this time. RRFR in partnership with Corrales Fire and State Fire, will begin conducting bosque mitigation at the end of this month,” Rio Rancho Fire and Rescue Public Information Officer Sean Gerdemann said.

Sandoval County Fire Chief Eric Masterson is looking for ways to meet the challenges that wildfires bring.

“The lives of our citizens and visitors are the key priority to Sandoval County Fire and Rescue every day. Our focus is our people, their pets and their properties. To achieve this, we have the best personnel on our team and the best equipment available so that we can respond quickly and effectively to any emergency (fire, flood or other hazardous situation). Our goal? To save lives and mitigate damage to personal property and the environment,” Masterson said with regard to fire safety in the county.

Masterson explained that wildfire is a “moving target as the devastation in the Los Angeles area documents.”

He added that because the conditions change yearly, preparations and response plans are affected. To meet this challenge, Sandoval County works with federal, state, and local partners to identify issues and solve problems. Masterson says this collaboration with other agencies and community partners generates more solutions and remedies to prevent fires and loss. The county is available to speak to local groups and organizations about wildfire concerns and preparedness efforts.

Dan H. Heerding, emergency manager of Sandoval County, stressed that “Preparedness is a core component for prevention and mitigation of loss during emergencies.”

The County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) is currently being updated. According to the county, this plan helps identify high-risk areas, develop prevention and mitigation strategies, and establish relationships with community and agency partners to reduce the impact of wildfires in Sandoval County. Also, Sandoval County says it is developing a multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan. This plan expands on the CWPP in that it identifies and evaluates all the natural hazards within the county’s communities.

For homeowners, Heerding suggested using the Firewise Guidelines to create a defensible space within their property. He also encourages conversations between homeowners and their insurance carriers to better understand their insurance policy’s coverage.

In case of any emergency, the county would engage Code Red to send out important community messages, most likely as an Integrated Public Alert & Warning System, which requires no subscription.

There are several resources people can use to prepare for such an event. A look at National Fire Protection Association’s guidelines can help. If there is a fire emergency, call 911.