LAFD Celebrates Six New Fire And Rescue Vehicles

Submitted by Kirsten Laskey (ladp admin)
on May 22, 2017
- 10:43 pm

LAFD Fire Chief Troy Hughes, left, Los Alamos Field Office Deputy Manager Juan Griego and County Council Chair David Izraelevitz speak during the ceremony. Photo by Louisa Martinez/LAFD

A ceremony Thursday at Fire Station 1 celebrates the six new vehicles added to the Los Alamos Fire Department’s fleet. Photo by Louisa Martinez/LAFD

By KIRSTEN LASKEY

Los Alamos Daily Post

Los Alamos Fire Department hosted a push in ceremony Thursday afternoon at Fire Station 1 to celebrate the addition of six new vehicles to its fleet.

The six units were displayed outside the fire station and firefighters were ready to show them off during the ceremony. Fire Chief Troy Hughes recognized the Los Alamos Field Office and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for helping to acquire the vehicles.

“It takes a lot of collaboration,” Hughes said.

The acquisition and equipping of fire trucks for service is a huge task that takes the coordinated effort from many people.

The new vehicles include:

Two Pumper Trucks capable of 1,500/gpm capacity;
One Heavy Rescue Truck;
One Light Rescue Truck;
One Type Four Wildland Engine; and
One Type Five Wildland Engine.

The pumpers and rescue trucks are replacements for LAFD apparatus purchased just after the 2002 Cerro Grande Fire. The pumpers and rescues are owned by the Department of Energy and provided to LAFD through a cooperative agreement. LAFD received the vehicles in November.

According to Wildland Division Chief Ramon Garcia, “Two of the six apparatus are wildland firefighting vehicles; a Type IV and Type V engine acquired through the American Firefighters Grant and NM Fire Protection Grant, respectively. The wildland engines are new to LAFD and will expand LAFD’s delivery of services.”

Garcia, who authored the two grants, commented that in his opinion there are three things that make LAFD stand out: manpower, training and equipment. For the size of this community, the manpower the fire department can provide to any event is “unheard of”; the department is nuclear-grade highly trained organization; and, “We have the best equipment this side of the Mississippi,” Garcia said.

Addressing some 30 firefighters, staff and guests, County Council Chair David Izraelevitz said, “We are very proud of you guys. We have the best department in the state.”

Los Alamos Field Office Deputy Manager Juan Griego spoke on behalf of the Department of Energy and said the laboratory is an important institution and what LAFD does every day is vitally important to LANL and the nation.

“Thank you each and every one of you,” he said.

Firefighters present said they were pleased with the new additions to their fleet. Driver Engineer Joseph Romero, an 11-year veteran with the LAFD said, “They’re excellent, they’re definitely what we need here in Los Alamos. They’ll definitely get used.”

County Council Chair David Izraelevitz talks with a firefighter during Thursday’s push in ceremony for six new vehicles. Photo by Louisa Martinez/LAFD