By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
Be prepared for when the big fire hits the Sandia Mountains.
That was the message delivered at the East Mountain Interagency Fire Protection Association fire preparedness meeting Friday at the Vista Grande Community Center north of Cedar Crest.
“If you think that what's happening down there (in the Manzano Mountains) is not going to happen up here, I'm going to take the drugs you're on,” Sandia District Ranger Cid Morgan, the agency representative for the Big Springs Fire. “I'm going to tell you the way it is … 90 percent of the houses up here are not defensible.”
Houses with firewood or other materials nearby or those homes with thick stands of trees may not get much help in the event of a fire, according to Morgan.
“Fire is a part of the ecology,” she said, “if you don't do what you need to you're going to lose your home … we're going to walk away.”
Morgan said she's cleared as much as 100 to 150 feet around her property.
As she paced in front of the audience, Morgan explained that she was still “fired up” over a comment from a man in Mountainair who said firefighters should have stayed and protected his home, rather than save themselves and let it burn.
“You lose somebody in the line of duty,” she said, “that stays with you for the rest of your life … I'm not going to go to one of (the firefighter's) funerals … I'm not going to lose somebody over stuff.”
Sgt. Craig Sevier said he is also loath to send his officers into danger after people who've chosen not to evacuate.
“We're going to sit back at some point and say, realistically, that's a bad choice,” he said. “We're used to taking risks … it's hard to get the deputies and tell them that's too big a risk.”
He said his officers work to make sure things don't get to that point, however. Even though police officers can't force a person to leave their home, even in the most dire of circumstances, Sevier said there are ways to drive the danger of a situation home to people.
“We'll ask for DNA, dental records,” he said. “We'd rather people voluntarily evacuate when it's requested.”
An evacuation because of a fire in the Sandias may not be that far off, according to Morgan, who has also worked the Ojo Peak Fire in late 2007 and the Trigo Fire in early 2008.
“I'm pretty fired up about this because this is the third one and they are marching north,” she said.
To be prepared, pack three days worth of food and water for everyone in the family along with a can opener plates and utensils. Clothes, a first aid kit, flashlight, radio, spare batteries, blankets and copies of important papers and prescription medications should also be packed and stored for a fast exit.
Morgan also suggested that people try to keep their gas tanks full to avoid having to visit a gas station during a fire and have a plan to evacuate children, especially if they spend time home alone.
“The thing that scares me the most is the latch-key kids,” Morgan said.
It was suggested that friends and neighbors might be a help, if children have to be left at home alone.
For those whose house is hard to reach, there is the Citizens Addressing Response Enhancement program. It allows residents to provide specific information for emergency response teams about gaining access to their property or special needs of those who live there. Forms can be filled out on the county's Web site at www.bernco.gov, or by calling 798-7005.
“This is the time of year we get a flurry of (CARE forms),” said Roger Tannen of the Bernalillo County Office of Emergency Management.
With recent dry conditions the district has taken the precaution of shutting down most of the trails in the forest.
“We are in extreme fire danger that we've never seen before,” said Morgan.
N.M. 165 is closed from Placitas to the Balsam Glade Picnic Area except by special permit.
All picnic areas along the Sandia Crest Highway (N.M. 536) should remain open except for Nine Mile and Cienega Picnic Ground, but almost all the back country hiking trails in the forest are closed. The Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway, Sandia Peak the ski area remain open.
For more detailed information on fire preparedness or for the full list of closures go to www.emifpa.org.
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