Car Fire A Quick Save
The La Barberia Road neighborhood is one of three severe risk areas in Santa Fe County. There is only one way in and out. The hills are steep and heavily forested. In the late summer of 2021 Hondo responded to a fire in this area resulting from the ignition of a pack rat nest inside a vehicle’s engine compartment. Our newest attack engine, E-11, was able to access the property and extinguish the blaze before it spread to surrounding exposures. The car itself was entirely burned, but what could have been a much more serious disaster was averted.
Book Award
Congratulations to longtime Hondo volunteer Hersch Wilson whose book Firefigher Zen: A Field Guide to Thriving in Tough Times was just awarded a Bronze Medal by Foreword Indies as one of the best new books from small, independent publishers in the “Body, Mind, Spirit” category. Hersch retired from active duty after thirty years of service. The book is a compilation of life lessons learned in one of the world’s hardest and most rewarding jobs. Firefighter Zen is available online or at bookstores everywhere.
Zoll Autopulse Will Save Lives
Training on the Zoll
With your contributions, Hondo Fire purchased and received a new Zoll Autopulse, an automated device for use in cardiac emergencies. Unlike traditional CPR, which delivers chest compressions with a downward, piston-like thrust to circulate blood and oxygen when the heart has stopped, the Zoll constricts the chest with an encircling band that more closely replicates the biomechanics of actual respiration, improving outcomes for patients. Hondo members have been trained on the Zoll which will be carried now in our regular ambulance.
New Water line, Hydrants Come to Cañoncito
A water line extension from Eldorado to Cañoncito that’s aimed at mitigating water-quality and water-supply issues will provide both communities with access to the Santa Fe County water system. The extension, which runs for four miles along Old Las Vegas Highway from the
Highway 285 intersection to the old church at the end of the road, will also feed 21 new fire hydrants, each one capable of delivering 1,000 gallons per minute to a fire truck.
For residences and businesses adjacent to the highway, the new hydrants dramatically improve firefighters’ ability to save a structure. For others in the district, the hydrants may lead to lower home insurance premiums. Insurance companies use a rating, called an ISO fire score, to determine the likelihood that a building can be saved from severe damage or destruction in a fire. Available water supply determines 40 percent of that score.
“This is definitely an improvement for the ISO rating,” said Jaome Blay, Santa Fe County Fire Marshal. “A lower ISO rating translates to less-expensive premiums for both homeowners and commercial properties, and this will affect the Hondo Fire District in general.” The project, which will cost $13.5 million and is scheduled for completion in June 2022, includes upgrades to the Cañoncito and Eldorado water systems and will augment both communities’ water supplies with surface water from the Buckman Direct Diversion. Previously, both communities relied solely on groundwater. In Eldorado the aquifer has dropped in years past, and in Cañoncito naturally occurring uranium has polluted groundwater.
How Many Emergencies Hondo Responds To Annually
2015 ….. 452
2016 ….. 463
2017 ….. 520
2018 ….. 606
2019 ….. 584
2020 ….. 538
