Brazos Canyon Volunteer Fire Department, Chama, NM

August (and June and July) 2010 Newsletter

August’s weekend training will be held on Saturday, August 28 th, at 8:00, at the Chamita Volunteer Fire Department’s station near Espanola. This month’s training will be our participation in the Rio Arriba County Fire Association’s Second Annual Firefighter Day. Family members and friends are invited to watch the activities. The Association will be providing lunch.

There will be no during-the-week training this month.

There will be no Leadership Team meeting in August, due to Firefighter Day.

I’m still having trouble getting the newsletter put together. I’ll include pertinent information from June and July in this edition. June’s training was on drafting and was led by Paul Schultz. The Laguna Vista Volunteer Fire Department joined us for the training. July’s training included repairing the dry hydrant on Fishtail Bridge and then drafting from the hydrant using both the Pumper and the Initial Attack truck.

The Department has a new member. At the Department’s July meeting, Mark Stavig was voted onto the Department. Please welcome Mark, when you see him.

The County has provided us with the PO for the over-the-office storage area. Johnny Otero will begin working on the storage area on Monday, August 23 rd. He expects the work will take two weeks to complete.

There will be no Internet service at the station for the next two weeks. We had to remove all equipment from the Chief’s office for the over-the-office storage area construction. Internet service will be available again, when the construction is completed.

The Brush Truck is still out of service. We will be installing the new equipment on the Brush Truck and reattaching everything, soon.

Our annual letter campaign has been very successful. Over $17,000 has been donated to the Department in response to Public Relations Officer Mike Valdez’ letter.

We’re looking into an additional building to house some of our apparatus. We need space for the Department’s Initial Attack Truck, Brush Truck, Rescue Trailer and Support Vehicle (the Excursion). We are completing initial planning and will be using our Community Funds to pay for the multi-bay building.

The Department participated in the Chama Days celebration. Paul Schultz and Mike Valdez joined the parade in the Tender. Paul Cordova, Mark Stavig and Catherine Praiswater represented the Department in the Firefighter competition.

The Department had one call in May, three calls in June and one call in July.

On May 11 th, the Department was contacted by Pablo Montenegro from the Chama Division of New Mexico State Forestry who was requesting assistance for a fire caused by a downed power line. Paul Schultz, Mike Cousins, Dale Cowder, Matt Berry and Mike Montano responded. Through their quick action, the fire was contained and extinguished.

On June 19 th, the Department was paged out to an illegal burn that involved firearms. Catherine Praiswater, Kevin Chafins, Paul Schultz and Ron Alcorn responded, along with the State Police, while Mike Praiswater and Mary Schwartz staged at the Station if more help was needed. The residents had extinguished the fire, prior to the Department’s and State Police’s arrival.

On June 26 th, the Department was paged out to respond to a fire in Los Ojos. Paul Schultz and Mike Praiswater responded in the Pumper while Kevin Chafins and Mary Schwartz responded in the Initial Attack truck. Mike Cousins and Mike Valdez waited at the Station with the Tender. The Department members worked with State Forestry, the Laguna Vista Volunteer Fire Department and the Tierra Amarilla Volunteer Fire Department to extinguish the fire.

On June 29 th, the Department was paged out to respond to a fire near the El Vado Dam residential area. Paul Schultz, Mike Cousins, Catherine Praiswater, Ron Alcorn and Dale Cowder responded. The Department members worked with State Forestry and the Tierra Amarilla Volunteer Fire Department to extinguish the fireworks-caused fire.

On July 2 nd, the Department was paged out to support the Canjilon Volunteer Fire Department’s response to a car fire south of Canjilon. Paul Schultz, Catherine Praiswater and Bob Diefenbaugh responded but were asked to stand down when additional Canjilon firefighters were able to respond.

There are several Department birthdays that we need to celebrate. Ron Alcorn, Mike Lopez and Kevin Chafins had birthdays in July. Bud Brinkerhoff, Paul Schultz, Billy Thorne, Nick Abeyta, Kathleen Ponder and Ron Mershon have birthdays in August. Please join me in wishing them a happy birthday.

Designed and Maintained

Morys "Peaches" Hines