By Mary Alice Murphy
[Editor's Note: I didn't get all the names of the speakers or commenters. If you recognize someone and know their name, please send it to
At a community conversation addressing fire, Rep. Luis Terrazas brought together representatives of area municipalities, Grant County, volunteer fire departments, municipal fire departments and representatives from federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service.
Terrazas opened the community conversation by thanking everyone in attendance. He noted recent news had featured not only the Rodeo Road fire locally, but the wildfires in Ruidoso.
"That could happen to any of our communities-Silver City, Bayard or Pinos Altos, which came close to losing part of the town last year," Terrazas said. "We're so busy with our daily lives, we don't always pay attention. I'm trying to focus at the Legislature on mental health and capital projects. Sometimes, we're not paying enough attention to the elephant in the world. Some will think this is political, but it's not, it's about public safety."
He said he could see the fire off Rosedale Road. "It was shaking my house. I told my wife that if the winds picked up and changed direction, it could start to spread. It rattled me a bit. I talked to my representative friend in Ruidoso, and he said for the next 10 years, he will be working on getting homes rebuilt and jobs and businesses put back together. He said he will be aggressively protecting his community. He said the residents knew for at least 20 years that the town was a fire target. With the fire came floods which destroyed homes, churches and businesses that the fire did not destroy. He said no one had been covered by flood insurance."
Terrazas then said he would share some questions his friend had been asked. Why aren't we thinning and creating defensible space? One of the reasons is because entities want to protect archaeological sites and so thinning is not done. Entities come in and present lawsuits. Do we have enough volunteer fire department volunteers. "I heard the average age of VFD volunteers is 70. What is my, each one of us, our responsibility to protect our homes and businesses?"
"This tonight is a starting point, an organizational meeting, a planning meeting," Terrazas said. "It's harder and harder to get insurance. You can put money in a pot for insurance, but when 500 homes are lost, the insurance is a pittance. The state has $28 million, but a person gets $180,000 for a home or business worth twice or more than that."
He introduced Sabrina Pack of SkyWest Media, who had helped him organize the event. Pack introduced the participants who would speak. They included Kendall Smith, a land planner with NRCS (National Resources Conservation Service), Adrian Tafoya, Marcus Cornwell and Liz Toney from the Gila National Forest; Tom Ziegler and Abigail ____from NM State Forestry; Grant County Emergency Manager Scot Fuller; Grant County Fire Chief Roger Groves; Silver City Fire Chief Milo Lambert and Assistant Fire Chief Aaron Seavers; Silver City Police Chief Freddie Portillo; Steve Cadiff; ____ Rascon; Carlos Lucero of PNM; Ben Chaves of Red Cross; Dusty Hunt. Tom Shelley and Johnny Reed of Grant County Soil and Water Conservation District ; former area Rep. Rebecca Dow; Pinos Altos VFD Chief Ed Downward; and BLM representative William ____.
Fuller gave the first talk. He said the county had received a grant for $185,000 to create a new Community Wildland Protection Plan. "It will be a much more comprehensive one than the former one. Projects will be identified. We have to have a plan before we can do the million-dollar projects, such as thinning and burning. We are in the process also of updating our Hazard Mitigation Plan, which should be presented at the county July 25 meeting at the commissioner chambers at 9 a.m. It is a threat assessment plan that has to be approved by the Commission. The state and FEMA will open up more funding when the plan is approved. We also have $20,000 for public outreach on the Ready, Set, Go plan. As of Feb. 1, the county is aligned with IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert and Warning System). In case of emergency the alert will hit every cell phone in the county or to whatever area is under an emergency, such as flooding, fire, mandatory evacuation, and such. We plan to send an alert to get in Set mode then go to Go mode when people need to leave. We also have the emergency alerts through the National Weather Service. We partner with Sabrina over the radio, who is also working to develop a website for all emergencies. There should be someplace to go to get accurate information. Grant County has an official website, and we can put a banner on there. There was too much wrong information on the fire on Rodeo Road."
Groves said the county oversees eight volunteer fire departments. The fire departments in Bayard, Santa Clara and Hurley are volunteer departments, with the Silver City Fire Department firefighters being paid.
"A few years ago, the average age of a volunteer firefighter was 53," Groves said. "Pre- Covid, we had more than 300 volunteer firefighters; now we have around 175-180. Some moved away, some passed and some retired. It's a struggle to keep the numbers up. The eight VFDs are constantly recruiting. Not everyone fights fires. We need support people, such as for clerical duties or as dispatchers. The municipalities also recruit for firefighters. We have the Ready, Set, Go flyers and we want to get them out to folks. They are guides on how to prepare your homes, by sealing up cracks on the exterior, so embers don't enter your home. Set is getting things in your car to take with you, and Go is leave now. We can't save you and your home at the same time. If you have questions, call me or Scot or any of the chiefs, so you're Ready."
He also noted the county has a chipper program, where a person can rent the county wood chipper for a $200 deposit and $36 per machine hour. The requirement are to clean it when you finish and to have the fuel level up to full. "We do site visits, also."
To a question on the chipper he said it could be used for up to two or three days. "Everyone has been happy with this machine."
Terrazas asked: "What can I at the Legislature do to support these programs? For capital outlay, I need you to talk to Prospectors to give them information on what we at the Legislature can do."
Groves said: "We don't ever have enough volunteers. Tyrone VFD had 100 people, but when they are fighting fires in the high temperatures and not hydrating enough, they can go down. We had three go down from the heat at the Rodeo Road fire."
Lambert spoke next. "I realize that people who are in this room are proactive and concerned. Remember two things: when you are a volunteer fire fighter, there is a retirement plan, so you get benefits after a certain time of service when you retire. Remember you must have defensible space around your house. Preventing a fire is the easiest thing to do in case of a wildfire or structure fire. The second thing is controversial. I didn't see any of you at the Ridge Road Fire, but I was in a line of cars because of traffic of people who wanted to watch. Stay home! We will get the information to you and you can take pictures afterward. On the Rodeo Road Fire, we shut down Rodeo Road. We heard that people could see the smoke in Glenwood, Truth or Consequences, and Deming. Stay home and let us do our job. So two things: 1) defensible space and 2) stay home.
Portillo said the gridlock of people wanting to see the fire makes "our jobs more difficult. We will assist the Sheriff, and the first think we do is take care of traffic control. We also need you to evacuate when we tell you to. Stay out of the hot zone. We communicate and we use several media to get the word out. We'll even deploy officers to other areas of the state, if needed, and even to other states. Ruidoso asked us for officers to try to prevent looting. We communicate with other chiefs. Dispatch is not a media outlet. When you call for information, you are blocking lines for the real emergency. Don't call 911 unless it is an emergency."
He said the animal control officers helped get horses and pets out of the Rodeo Road area. "Yes, sometimes, we make mistakes, but we learn to limit them."
Toney, the Gila National Forest Silver City District and Glenwood District ranger, said, along with Wildlife Services, "we can do projects on public land. We do not do projects on private land, although we collaborate in the WUI (wildland-urban interface). We have about 700 acres masticated and thinned, primarily on Little Walnut. We thin to prevent ladder fires, and we hope the private land owners will do their defensible space. We have prescribed burns to made areas more resilient to fire to prevent catastrophic fire. The CWPP is critical, and we can apply for funding to help areas adjacent to our public land. Ws applied for and received $2 million for projects on 31,000 acres. We are working on resilient projects in the Burro Mountains area."
Terrazas asked if projects are held up by archaeological studies.
Toney said sometimes they have to deal with archaeological and environmental compliance. "What helps is partnering with NEPA and the state so we can do it faster where we can. Biological studies are usually done by NEPA."
Terrazas said he had heard that there are few archaeologists to do the work.
Dow said some of the issues happened before Covid. "We should make sure the residents know about all this. We called the university presidents, who said they could create a 40-hour course for field archaeology? Can that help mitigate the shortfall in archaeologists? Will that help you?"
Toney said before any federal inventory of cultural resources is done, "we hire surveyors. Even as more funding is available, it's hard to find contractors. We do have successful partnering with other agencies."
Terrazas asked: "Why do you do prescribed burns in the spring when there is more wind?"
Toney said for every fire, they have a prescription in place, for the temperature, wind and humidity. "We want trees to die. Sometimes, the objectives are better met in spring rather than in the fall. Sometimes, the impacts are preventive of catastrophic fires."
Terrazas asked about closing down roads in the forest. "I'm not a biker. I'm an RVer. Are there any plans to re-establish some of the routes, so people can have access, and they don't get trapped. How can we work together to mitigate these issues?"
Toney replied that the roads were closed in 2009-10. But with the burgeoning of UTV groups, "we plan to open more for bikers and horses. It would be on a case-by-case basis. We saw an analysis for UTVs. Sometimes the roads are closed for specific reasons."
"Let's go back to focusing on firefighting," Terrazas said.
Toney said they would look at egress access.
Terrazas asked if any meetings were taking place to address the increase in catastrophic fire, "because we are so vulnerable to fire. The insurance rates are going up and some people can't even get insurance; some businesses cannot get insurance."
Toney said she couldn't speak to that. "We are trying to work on adjacent spaces to help homeowners."
Abigail _____ of New Mexico Forestry said the agency is absolutely aware of the problem. State Forestry is spearheading an effort. I'm the wildland fires coordinator and also work in fire planning. Back to defensible space. We are an avenue for property owners. We work for FAIR (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements) access through the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance. We have $350,000 for private property to be insured up to $1 million. In State Forestry, we are looking at other states. We absolutely support owners creating defensible space, if it's vegetative. But we also encourage hardening of homes to make them resistant to fire. We're also working to get homes fortified, so they can get insurance. "
Lambert said inside the city limits of Silver City, the ISO (Insurance Services Office) rating is 3. He said a lot of insurance brokers charge homeowners for an ISO rating of 10. "Its a form letter. Check with your insurance provider to find out what your ISO is, especially if you have seen a drastic rate increase."
He encouraged the updating of CWPPs. "You can get funding to update them. There is no match required. I can help with your projects. We can start a project when the CWPP is pending."
State Forestry's Tom Zegler said he is stationed in Silver City. "We have grant potentials for private homeowners for projects in the Silver City area. I'm a land manager. I can come and evaluate your property for its current status. You can talk to me about your goals and I can provide a treatment plan. In Grant county we have a landscape priority, with two focal areas. One is near Silver City and another near Mimbres, which can get funding."
Cornwell said he is the fire and aviation staff officer on the Gila National Forest. "We have excellent cooperative agreements with the community. We fully support each other. The things I've seen in this community are impressive. The IPAWS system and the grant studies to protect you all. We provide a lot of robust fire fighting across the jurisdiction. We have an aerial base at the Grant County Airport. We are fortunate for having good collaboration."
Fuller agreed and noted that the Forest Service was on standby if needed to help with the Rodeo Road fire if it spread.
Cornwell said that the Rico Fire that threatened Pinos Altos had firefighters from the VFDs, the BLM, state forestry, Silver City Fire Department and the Forest Service provided the air tankers that flew over and helped put out the fire.
"The volunteer fire departments can work across the forest also," Cornwell continued. "The Forest Services uses a lot of tools to manage the forest, including prescribed burns to take out excess fuels. For some fires, we do full suppression, but ones in the back country that are naturally caused, we often try to contain the burns. Lightning fires we manage to protect the watershed and improve wildlife habitat. We go for full suppression around inhabited areas."
He pointed out that with all his fire experience, "if we can't access a property, we can't protect it. We make decisions on whether the property is a safe place for firefighters. Sometimes, we do fuel breaks to slow down or stop a fire, but we will only tolerate a certain amount of risk. The homes that were lost in the Quail Ridge fire were ones that had dry grass, and embers flew into the homes. The ones that had defensible space were mostly saved. A lot of the danger in Silver City is from your neighbors if they do not have defensible space around their homes. Concerns in the WUI are that fires can come up the drainages from Silver City."
Tafoya said the NRCS has voluntary programs for ranchers and farmers to protect their property from fire. "We implement conservation projects to address a specific concern in forestry land areas. We can remove woody residue, and we can remove debris, and help prevent erosion. We do fuel breaks, too, and we can come visit your property to develop a conservation project for your land, if we can get funding. We also offer technical assistance."
NRCS soil conservationist Daniel Smith said thinning, defensible space and erosion control can help prevent flooding after a fire. "We had a pot of money from the USDA that we used for 20 projects based on forest protection. When there's a fire, our intent is to prevent as much damage as possible. Erosion can be a problem, and the state can help you with the arroyos. As for archaeological hold ups, most are with smaller projects. We work with farmers and ranches, as well as private forest owners. We look across the entire property."
Carlos Lucero of PNM said the company works mostly on the preventive side. "In mid-April, we came and met with local first responders to determine what we could do from the prevention angle. The plan for public safety is to turn off the power supply under certain criteria. We keep an eye on high winds and rolling thunderstorms. We want to work with first responders and fire chiefs in coordination with the community. We don't anticipate using the power shut off until it's absolutely necessary. We want to impact the fewest customers possible. We want to note that what happened in Ruidoso might have been human-caused. The first was already burning when we coordinated with Ruidoso. The cuts are for safety. Within days we generally have 75 percent back on power. In Ruidoso, some transformers and poles burned down. It took us two weeks to be fully back online. Let us know when you're having problems."
The Red Cross representative ____ Chavez said: "We're the people who show up after a fire. A lot of the work we do, about 90 percent is helping people after a house fire."
Hunt son GSWCD said: "We have used NRCS grants mostly for the past 20 years. We can fund up to 50 percent of the cost for a landowner who needs extensive work for defensible space. Our district mission is to protect private land. State money for prevention can come through us. We have a list of people who are interested in prevention, so we will apply for the grant again."
Four people made public comment. David Martin said he lives in Silver Acres and what concerns him is a property that has 30-40 cars on a one-acre lot. "Maybe it's a zoning question. There are also propane tanks. I'll be at the next county commission meeting to talk about what can be done."
County Manager Charlene Webb replied: "The county does have an ordinance in place addressing nuisance and parked cards, but we have only one code enforcement officer and she's temporarily on leave. But let us know if you are having problems. We have a specific process, and she's not shy about issuing citations. We are looking at amendments to give more teeth to the ordinance."
Portillo said the town is also aware of some of these properties and seeing violations. "We're actively addressing them."
Bill Waldman, who came to Silver City and Grant County for the first time as a co-pilot on a B-17 firebomber, said: "I have a question. I understand the Forest Service has closed its smokejumper base and only has SEATs planes to fight fires."
Cornwell said: "We are not closing it. We do bring in smokejumpers that can base here. The reality is the smokejumpers are not that useful to rappel into a fire in the back country. We are getting better tools that can work better at less risk to humans. We temporarily closed it this year, because a tanker accidentally hit a wing tip into a hangar. We lost our tanker manager this year, and it won't take long for tankers to get here from Alamogordo or Fort Huachuca, about 45 minutes. We will have large tankers again."
Another person spoke and asked about issuance of burn permits. "I live in Wind Canyon, and one of my neighbors lit up a big pile of brush when the temperature was in the 90s and the wind about 20 miles per hour. He had no well, but had a two-gallon bucket of water nearby, no hose, no fire extinguisher. I would like to see if we can get more restriction on burn permits, maybe restricting on windy days."
Lambert said the town has a robust permit process, and is working with the county to develop a county burn permit.
Gabriel Ramos said when he served as a commissioner, there was an eco-watershed committee. "We worked on narrowing areas down to get funding. Maybe it's time to put it back together and look at areas. Wee were looking at some areas, and had targeted the Pinos Altos area as of concern. A lot of areas, we cannot write insurance on anymore, because of where they lie. FAIR is good, but if the owner doesn't have liability insurance they are not eligible. We need to have the eco-watershed committee to identify areas."
Pack asked for more questions from the floor.
Charles Goodyear of G and G Towing said they spend about $30,000 to prevent fire on their yard. "We ask the county for help because there are some tonnage limits. The county should come up with a better way. We are restricted to 2,000 pounds of trash a month. If someone hasn't hauled trash for 12 years, they wouldn't fit. We need to do something to make it more user friendly, especially after the fire that just happened. I am pro-active at keeping our place safe. But the community and businesses could do better for all of us to prevent issues."
Terrazas asked if adjustments could be made.
Webb said that the county is just one of many partners in the Southwest Solid Waste Authority. "It's something the board can discuss."
Goodyear said he owns lots of properties, but the dump goes by license plate, but "I'm doing something for my other properties, too. Now we have a new trash company, Gila Sanitation that does yard cleaning. The cost for them is $2300 for debris disposal."
Webb suggested Goodyear join the SWSWA board.
He said he would like to make it work.
Arnold Lopez, Mayor of Santa Clara, said he used to work with the Forest Service. "I work to educate the village. We have a paper that goes out with the water bill. I put in a safety message every month. I tell them to prepare for fire, flood and whatever. Don't be the person that does nothing. I've had a good response to the messages. I challenge my chief to educate his folks, too. We have to take our own responsibility. Help your neighbors. And, Luis, thank you for organizing this."
