By a unanimous vote at their January 30^th regular meeting, the Colfax County Commission voted to purchase four 20,000 gallon water storage tanks for the Moreno Valley Fire Department. The purchase of water storage capacity for Moreno Valley Fire Department is part of a broader long term general plan to provide more water for fire protection, improved capacity to deliver that water (more water tankers), and an overall update to the fire fighting equipment. “our oldest fire engine is nearly 30 years old,” according to Chief Bob Coss. “It’s time to start thinking about updating to newer, more reliable equipment.”

Funding for the water storage tank purchase will come from the county’s Fire Excise Tax, which is a 1/4% excise tax on sales in Colfax County, but outside incorporated villages and towns. This fund has been used in the past to purchase water tankers for county fire departments, and even an occasional ambulance for village EMS.

The overall plan for water storage is to purchase four tanks, with delivery on the first two as soon as possible from the vendor, and the final two to be delivered after July 1st; the beginning of the next fiscal year. The first two tanks will be installed at the Val Verde Fire Station north of Angel Fire along Highway 64. “These tanks will place water in closer proximity to some of our most populated areas,” according to Chief Coss. The second two tanks will be installed at the Black Lake station, which is another area of the highest concentration of homes in the Moreno Valley Fire Department.

The fire department’s general plan, according to Coss is a “work in progress” for the Moreno Valley. Basically it includes adding water storage throughout the district and more water tankers to deliver that water to a potential fire scene. From there, the district’s fleet of aging equipment will be systematically replaced.

There are two new fire sub-stations in the works too. The first will be at the base of Palo Flechado Pass, which will serve the Taos Pines area as well as the pass, where many of the accidents within the county’s fire district generally occur. This project is underway with funding from the New Mexico Finance Authority almost ready to proceed. A contractor has been selected, and minor details are being worked out in order for construction to begin. The second station will be somewhere in the south part of the fire district, at a location that’s yet to be determined.

While the plan is ambitious, it’s also long term, and therefore likely to be successful. Funding for the plan will come from several sources. The water tanks, for example, will come mostly from Fire Excise Taxes. The sub-stations will be funded through the district’s Fire Protection Funds, which come from the state. These funds can be used to purchase equipment and buildings related to structural fire protection.

Another important funding source for Moreno Valley Fire Department are grants and donations. In the recent past, for example, the fire department was awarded a FEMA grant to purchase a large breathing air compressor. More recently, they received a $100,000.00 wildland grant from State Forestry to purchase a new wildland fire apparatus. “The good thing about this grant,” according to Bob Coss, “is that funding that’s left over from the purchase of this truck can be applied to the purchase of wildland equipment. Our department is growing and we need more personal protection equipment – like fire shelters – and hand tools for our expanding workforce. Donations from the public are also an important source of funding for MVFD. According to Coss, the public is responsible for much of the day-to-day operations; “especially the wildland part of our work. While we receive funding from the state for our structure protection, we generally receive nothing for wildland protection.” With the exception of the new wildland truck, we generally receive all of our operating funds for wildland protection from donations.

Chief Coss is positive about Moreno Valley Fire Department’s future. When questioned, he’s quick to point out that his firefighter workforce is increasing, his training program is improving, and the department’s general plan is underway and so far appears to be successful. “It’s a good time to be part of this organization. We’re moving forward in several areas, and we feel good about what we’re doing.”

Anyone interested in volunteering to be part of the Moreno Valley Fire Department can contact Bob Coss at 377-1046, or Assistant Chief Don Fink at 377-3441. People who want to help, but don’t want to fight fire should consider joining the fire department’s Support Unit, which benefits both the county fire department, as well as the Village of Angel Fire Fire Department. Call Charles Wilson at 377-3682 or Bonnie Fink at 377-3441.

As of yesterday, December 31st, county road crews had made “rough” openings on County roads B4, B5, B6, B7, B9, B9, B10, and parts of Sqawsh Blossom. Crews from the Flying Horse Ranch spent much of the day clearing B36, and private citizens cleared out the area around B17.

Leo Parker, county Road Manager, says that he’ll get to county roads south of Angel Fire today.

Fuel is unavailable in Eagle Nest. Food and fuel are still available in Red River and Angel Fire.

All roads are open into the Moreno Valley with the exception of highway 120 from Highway 434 to Wagon Mound. Actually, Highway 120 is passable at least to Hidden Lake. More information about roads can be found at www.nmroads.com. This web site is updated frequently.

This December’s snow storm is proving to be possibly the most significant storm to pound the northern New Mexico Mountains in a long time. With nearly five feet falling in the last twenty four hours, much of the Moreno Valley is “hunkered” down, waiting for the calm.

County crews have made several rescues; helping stranded motorists find shelter. Last night (December 29^th) The Angel Fire Resort set up a shelter in one of their conference rooms to help stranded motorists and residents who could not get to their homes. Today, the Village of Eagle Nest declared a state of emergency and opened their public buildings to tourists and residents who were stranded in their town. According to Emergency Manager Roger Terry, the Village of Eagle Nest took in twelve people and provided food and shelter for the evening. Mayor Hascall - assisted by Colfax County Emergency Planner Roger Terry – sought assistance from the Red Cross for blankets, cots, and food.

Throughput the day, county fire department personnel made contact with individual communities within district 6, and made contingency plans for emergency visits to resident’s homes. While Palo Flechado Pass into Taos and Bobcat Pass into Red River remained closed all day, the county commissioners declared an official state of emergency early this evening. A state of emergency enables the county to hire private contractors to help with snow removal without the usual long and exhaustive bidding process that usually accompanies government acquisitions.

Weather forecasts indicate that this storm will continue until later this evening (Saturday) morning, and another storm is on the horizon for next Wednesday.

With much of New Mexico experiencing the biggest snow storm of the season, meteorologists in Albuquerque are estimating that snowfall records will be broken. I-25 north into Colorado and I-40 from Albuquerque to Amarillo are closed. Here in the Moreno Valley, we haven’t much to complain about. Snow has been falling since yesterday, and is expected to continue through Saturday night.

While the large snowfall here in the Moreno Valley is welcome compared to last year’s pitiful showing, it doesn’t come without hardship. All passes into the valley have been closed periodically, and main roads within the village are just barely maintained. It goes without saying that county roads in the Moreno Valley Fire District are still waiting for work.

If you’re planning to visit the Moreno Vally during the New Year weekend, please understand that movement (unless you’re on a snowmobile) may be a bit slow. Many of the county roads are yet to be plowed since the county’s resources are currently stretched to their limits.

Once a year, an incredibly important event happens in Red River that impacts the safety of nearly everyone living in the the Enchanted Circle, but goes virtually unnoticed by most residents. The Enchanted Circle Regional Fire Association conducts its annual fire Mini-Academy in September, where rookie firefighters from over twenty different fire departments in Taos and Colfax counties gather to learn structural firefighting techniques. The academy this year was last weekend, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Participants from Moreno Valley Fire Department this year were Melissa Crompton, Keith Crompton, and Larry Layden. Don Fink served as a Company Officer, Bob Coss was Safety Officer, and Scott Shaffer brought Pumper 2.

This year’s Commander was Dave Wallace, the Fire and Police Chief from Taos Ski Valley, and an active member and supporter of the Enchanted Circle Fire Association. “The Mini-Academy is probably one of the best opportunities in the state for firefighters,” according to Chief Wallace. He even places the level of training on par with the state’s fire academy in Socorro, primarily because it is “truly hands on training.” “It’s amazing how in three days, people who were struggling to just put their gear on are working like a well oiled machine by Sunday afternoon. The commitment from students, instructors and staff to give up three days is amazing.”

The commitment from people around the Enchanted Circle to make this academy a reality goes well beyond the three days in September each year. True, there were about twenty students participating in this year’s academy, but there were at least as many instructors, company officers, command staff, and countless staff people who brought water for the fire engines, food for the people, and just about everything that is required to make an intense, three day course in firefighting a reality. There are the people working behind the scenes for months before the event like Ron and Dena Burnham of Red River, and Russ and Bonnie Driscoll of the Rio Fernando Fire Department, to name a very few. Jona Olson from Latir Fire Department was there with students, instructors, and staff personnel. The Moreno Valley Fire Department sent students and staff, while Eagle Nest Fire department provided several instructors and staff personnel, including Ralph (Mr. Pyro) Hissem, who directed the creation of fires in this year’s burn building. Nice burn Ralph!

This year, I had the privilege of being a company officer, which meant that I led a group of students through their curriculum. Let me share a bit of what we learned. We learned that fires are dangerous, and they kill people. We learned that, when we show up on a structure fire, there are many things we can do that might help the outcome of a fire and the safety of firefighters and victims involved with that fire. Our goal is always the preservation of life, including our own, and the protection of property.

We learned the difference between an offensive and defensive firefighting strategy, and when we use each one. Search and rescue techniques were important subjects, as well as scene preservation, and preservation of property and salvage operations. Overall, there were fifteen one hour and fifteen minute classes with nearly four hours of “putting it all together” simulations on the last day. You do the math. This was a busy group this weekend.

This year’s Operations Chief was Paul Allen, a Lieutenant with the Taos Volunteer Fire Department. He sums up the experience by saying, “you meet the people on Friday morning with virtually no experience, and by Sunday afternoon they’re functioning as a fire department.” From my perspective as a company officer, I can concur. I saw the tentative and unsure nature of my students on Friday, and by Sunday afternoon, we were attacking our tasks with confidence. Would I go into fire with these rookie students? You Bet I would!

Bob Coss, the Moreno Valley Fire Department Fire Chief worked as a safety officer this weekend. He reminds people that “the mini-academy is an excellent tool for the Enchanted Circle fire departments, and deserves the support of the enchanted circle residents who directly benefit from its training.”

While the Enchanted Circle’s fire mini-academy may be unnoticed by most residents, most fire personnel are okay with that arrangement. Their purpose is not to gain attention, but simply to protect the communities they serve. The mini-academy helps them to achieve that goal safely and efficiently, which is all anyone can expect.

Sunday afternoon September 17th, the Moreno Valley Fire Department responded to a report of smoke near County Road B7. The fire turned out to be a large diameter cedar tree that appeared to be struck by lightning. The county fire department - assisted by three firefighters from the Village of Angel Fire - quickly dug lines around the fire, then extinguished the blaze with water.

“I thought this one was going to be a problem,” said county Chief Bob Coss, “but we were able to get it taken care of rather quickly.” The last known lightning in this area was Sunday evening, according to local residents, which indicates that the fire must have been “smoldering” for almost a week before the right conditions allowed it to become a wildland fire.

On Thursday, August 24th, members of the Moreno Valley Fire Department met with other firefighters at the Philmont Scout Ranch to train on LP Gas fire superssion techniques. This event - with LP gas provided by the Northern New Mexico Gas Company - gave area firefighters valuable experience in dealing with propane fires.

Most homes in northern New Mexico have propane tanks. When a structure fire occurs, a significant concern is almost always the protection of the propane tank. When protection fails, or when the problem is the tank itself, the techniques learned here will help firefighters deal with it effectively and quickly.

The basic problem in dealing with a propane fire is to be able to approach the tank to work on it. Propane fires, because of the large amounts of fuel, are generally too hot and violent to approach directly. The techniques learned were to establish a curtain of water using several nozzels on full fog. As the firefighters approach, they are protected by the water. In this particular exercise, the goal is to turn off the gas valve that supplies the propane. In a real situation the goal may be to turn the valve, disconnect the gas line, or set up rigging to remove the tank from a hazardous area. In each case, the water curtain approach is designed to “push” the fire away from firefighters so they can work.

This centrally located trainin gsession included fire departments from the Moreno Valley, including Colfax County District 6 (Moreno Valley) and the the Village of Angel Fire Fire Department. Other departments were Philmont, Cimmaron, Springer, and Miami.

Chief Coss was generally “pleased with the level of participation” in Thursday night’s training. Considering that it was not a normal training night, we still had eight firifighters and two support unit members present. In addition to the large number of personnel training, we had many firefighters who were in a higher state of alertness within the district; knowing that several firefighters were away from the district at the same time.

Burn Ban Lifted Within Colfax County

On Tuedsay, July 25th, at the County Commissioner’s meeting in Raton, the Colfax County Board of Commissioners voted to rescind a previously imposed burn ban within Colfax County. The lifting of this ban marks an important step in the history of Colfax County because it allows for the implimentation of the county’s new burn ordinance.

The ordinance, even though criticized by some people as being “too much government”, actually has the potential to reduce the amount of government imposed on the people of Colfax County. Before the ordinance, burn restrictions were imposed by resolution from the county commissioners. When one area of the county was too dry to burn, everyone in the county experienced the same restrictions. As a result, some parts of the county suffered unnecessary burn restrictions in order to safeguard other areas that needed the restrictions in place.

With the new burn ordinance, the Fire Marshal has the ability to determine which areas of the county might or might not be under burn restrictions based on local conditions. This decision will usually be made with the input from the local fire chief. Because of these new procedures, Colfax County can respond to the needs of residents in a more dynamic and responsible way. Restrictions can be imposed or lifted based on current conditions. They can also be imposed or lifted based on real-time conditions, meaning that we no longer have to wait for a commisioner’s meeting make adjustments.

The entire burn ordinance, entitled “Fire Prevention Code” may be viewed here. A copy of the Moreno Valley Fire Department procedures for obatining a burn permit can be downloaded here.