Loving residents inflamed over fire district changes [Carlsbad Current-Argus, N.M.]
By Stella Davis, Carlsbad Current-Argus, N.M. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Earlier this month, the
He said change ensures that county volunteer fire departments are sent to all reported fire calls in areas of the county and generate the proper reports for those fire calls.
Arnwine told the commission this week that the fire calls in the county, and the required reports for those calls, are tied to state fire protection funds the county could lose if the fire district line was not redrawn.
She said it makes more sense for
"
Arnwine advised the commission that when a call comes in,
But
Insurance rates
Added to the reported problem of having Malaga and Otis volunteer fire departments as first responders outside the village limits, homeowners say they will see an increase in their insurance premiums.
Insurance companies take into consideration the Insurance Service Office rating in setting the homeowner's insurance premium.
ISO collects information on municipal fire-protection efforts in communities throughout
In each of those communities, ISO analyzes the relevant data using a fire suppression rating schedule.
ISO then assigns a public protection classification from 1 to 10.
Class 1 represents exemplary public protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area's fire-suppression program doesn't meet ISO's minimum criteria. By classifying communities' ability to suppress fires, ISO helps the communities evaluate their public fire-protection services.
The program provides an objective, countrywide standard that helps fire departments in planning and budgeting for facilities, equipment and training and securing lower fire insurance premiums for communities with better public protection.
Connally said
Arnwine told the commission that affected homeowners in the redrawn fire district would not see a change in the premiums. But Connally said Arnwine is wrong, and presented letters from several major insurers in
Commissioner
After an hour of discussion, the commission said the issue needs to be revisited and instructed Arnwine to set up a meeting with the affected people in
Following the meeting, Connally and <location value="LU/us.nm.loving" idsrc="xmltag.org">Loving's volunteer firefighters sat down with the Current-Argus to air their concerns.
Emergency responders and residents' concerns
"On average, a trailer house can burn completely down in four to 20 minutes," Grandi said. "With us here and close, we have a chance to at least save some of the homeowners' personal possessions. In the county meeting on Tuesday, everyone was talking about the fire side of this story, but I'm thinking about the medical part."
Grandi said emergency medical responders are mindful of the "golden hour," especially in traumatic injury situations. If they can get to the patient within an hour and start treatment, the person has a greater chance of survival.
He said there have been calls on
"Right now, Malaga has only three people that always respond. They have even stated they can't handle their district with the lack of personnel," Grandi said. "
Stretched resources
"The geophysical barriers under the new boundaries interfere with response time, which is the most important factor in preventing loss of life and property," he said.
Reid, a former
Stone and others provided instances in the past week in which emergency medical services were required at roll-overs on
"Last week, there was a roll-over at mile marker 7 on (Highway) 285 where there were two people needing assistance. Malaga was toned out, they didn't respond, and then
"There have been some fatalities on the
Acosta said there has been a lack of communication between
"Communication needs to improve and the district needs to be back the way it was and with an automated tone system in place," she said. "An automated tone system will improve protection class for all districts; hence help homeowners' insurance premiums to go down."
Reasons unclear
Connally said the reasoning behind the county's recent resolution is still unclear. However, she said Arnwine's statement that the redistricting change was made due to state reporting requirements is not entirely true.
"
Connally said the county and the village of
Although the group feels it did not get its concerns across to the commission during the meeting, they said they feel confident that the commission will reconsider its decision in reversing the resolution or finding a solution that everyone can live with.
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(c)2013 the Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, N.M.)
Visit the Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, N.M.) at www.currentargus.com
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