County fire reorganization may be changing, hinges on NMSU
Proposals to reorganize the Doña Ana County fire department to address problems in six failing fire districts may be changing because of resistance.
County fire reorganization may be changing, hinges on NMSU Proposals to reorganize the Doña Ana County fire department to address problems in six failing fire districts may be changing because of resistance. Check out this story on lcsun-news.com: https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2018/09/25/dona-ana-county-fire-reorganization-may-hinge-nmsu-department/1426562002/
Blake Gumprecht, Las Cruces Sun-News Published 4:36 p.m. MT Sept. 25, 2018
A plan to reorganize the Doña Ana County fire department may hinge on the involvement of New Mexico State University's fire department.(Photo: Provided by NMSU.)
LAS CRUCES - Doña Ana County commissioners on Tuesday approved a resolution publishing a proposal to dramatically reorganize the county fire department, but the particulars of what county officials want to do may be changing since last week.
The resolution approved Tuesday only approves publication of the proposals, which is required because they would necessitate a change in county ordinances. Commissioners won't likely decide on the proposals themselves until their Nov. 13 meeting.
County Manager Fernando Macias and Fire Chief Nicholas Hempel on Tuesday explained their plans to consolidate 16 county fire districts into just four and add more paid firefighters to address problems that caused six county fire districts to receive failing grades on an insurance industry ranking. But the makeup of the new districts may be changing because of resistance from the New Mexico State University Fire Department.
"We need to modify the proposed ordinance," Macias told commissioners.
Doña Ana County Manager Fernando Macias (Photo: Blake Gumprecht/Sun-News)
Original plans unveiled by Macias last week envisioned merging 15 of 16 districts into three larger districts, with the Santa Teresa district remaining as it is.
Under that plan, six fire districts in the northern part of the county would be combined to form a north district, four fire districts in the central part of the county would be combined to form a central district, and five districts in the southern part of the county would be combined to form a south district.
More: County officials want to restructure fire department; this is their proposal
Santa Teresa would remain as a stand-alone district because it received the highest grade of any largely volunteer district in the county and because it protects three valuable industrial parks that produce $2 billion in export annually.
In each of the combined districts, one station would be staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by paid, career firefighters. That would require the county to add 10 new full-time, paid firefighters.
In the north district, Doña Ana village station would be staffed round the clock. In the central district, the NMSU station would be staffed 24 hours a day. In the south district, Anthony would be staffed at all times.
Although the NMSU station is part of the county system, it is different than any other district because it is funded by the state and is staffed entirely by paid staff — full-time, career firefighters and part-time student firefighters.
NMSU received a higher grade than any other district that is part of the county system when evaluated by the independent ratings organization that evaluates fire systems. It received a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the highest possible.
Officials at the NMSU station are balking at the reorganization, Macias said, because if it is combined with three districts that received lower grades, including two failing grades, that could mean the larger district would receive a lower grade than NMSU currently has.
"They are expressing the same concern that Santa Teresa expressed," Macias said. "To merge them with other surrounding fire stations could jeopardize that 2 rating."
IF NMSU refuses to be merged with three surrounding districts to form a central district, then the county would instead seek to create two combined districts, while leaving Santa Teresa and NMSU as stand-alone districts.
If that were to happen, the northern district would remain as originally proposed and would combine six fire districts in Doña Ana village, Fairacres, Garfield, Organ, Radium Springs, and Rincon. Doña Ana would remain the station that would be staffed 24 hours a day.
The central district would disappear under the revised plan. Instead a south district would combine eight districts in Anthony, Chamberino, Chaparral, La Mesa, La Union, Las Alturas, Mesquite, South Valley. Anthony would be the round-the-clock station in that district.
Macias asked that two maps depicting each plan be included in the proposals that are published, and commissioners agreed to that. He said he is still hopeful that he can persuade NMSU to anchor the central district as originally proposed.
"We're continuing to have a discussion with them in terms of resolving that because them being part of a larger district would be of great benefit," Macias said.
The reorganization of the fire department is intended to correct problems that caused fire districts in Anthony, La Mesa, La Union, Las Alturas, Mesquite, and Radium Springs to be given failing grades by the Insurance Services Office (ISO), which grades fire agencies for the insurance industry.
More: Downgrading of county fire districts creates hardships for homeowners
The failing grades have caused property insurance rates in the six districts to skyrocket and have prompted some insurance companies to refuse to write new policies in those areas, which has caused deals for the sale of some homes to be cancelled.
The six districts received failing grades because they did not meet minimum ISO standards on the number of firefighters who must respond to structure fires. At least four firefighters in a district, on average, must respond to fires in that district, though the way those numbers are calculated is complex.
Combining districts will mean each district will have a greater pool of volunteer to draw on. That should increase the number of volunteers that respond to fires and make the fire department better equipped to respond to emergencies of all types.
Having one station in each district that is staffed around the clock by paid personnel will also help them meet minimum ISO requirements. That should mean that the ISO requirement that four firefighters respond to every structure fire is always met.
Fire Chief Hempel provided data at Tuesday's meeting of the Board of County Commissioners on how each of the combined fire districts would score based on ISO formulas and responses to structure fires so far this year. Those calculations were based on the original proposal, which includes NMSU in a central district.
The north district had an average response of 7.85 firefighters, the central district had an average response of 4.6, and the south district had an average response of 7.76. Santa Teresa had an average response of 5.
"Under redistricting, we will meet that minimum requirement of four with plenty to spare," Hempel said.
Hempel also showed a map depicting the location of 84 structure fires that have occurred so far this year in areas covered by the county fire department. The fires were concentrated near areas of highest population. They were greatest surrounding Las Cruces and in the southern part of the county.
He said that the distribution of those fires shows that if fire stations in Anthony and Doña Ana village are staffed around the clock that they will be well situated to respond to most fires.
Hempel said that those stations would provide "access to a majority of those fires in as quick a time as we can."
Blake Gumprecht may be reached at 575-541-5453, bgumprecht@lcsun-news.com or @blakegumprecht on Twitter.
Read or Share this story: https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2018/09/25/dona-ana-county-fire-reorganization-may-hinge-nmsu-department/1426562002/
Woman allegedly punches another over clothes theft
State employee among 2 people fatally shot
Felon ruled too dangerous for pretrial release
Mural with important message vandalized
Pretrial detention ordered for alleged shooter
Hatch to be location for movie starring Méndez