Los Alamos Fire Department prepares for what may be a very active wildfire season. Courtesy/LAFD

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

For many people, 2020 was the year they wanted to wash their hands of but for Los Alamos Wildland Division Chief Kelly Sterna, this year is the one he wants to conclude as painlessly as possible.

He explained the County is approaching its 21st-year anniversary of the Cerro Grande Fire and the 10-year anniversary of the Las Conchas Fire. Historically, Los Alamos has seen a 10-year pattern for significant wildland fire, Sterna said. This pattern coupled with last summer’s below average monsoon season, this year’s below normal snowpack, and above average temperatures could align into an above average wildland fire season locally. Despite the potential above average fire season indicators, Los Alamos Fire Department (LAFD) is being proactive.

“I would like to reassure the public that LAFD as well as the surrounding agencies in the area are preparing for an active wildfire season. We couldn’t do this without each other … we are all in this together,” Sterna said.

Sterna spoke about a recently completed project.

“We just finished our 114-acre mitigation project in the North community,” Sterna said. “The primary purpose is to create a defensible space on County property that borders private residences.”

He explained the wind predominantly blows from the south, southwest but it can change to north, northeast and there can be lightning. The potential change in the winds’ direction and lightning can cause fires and push them towards homes, Sterna said.

The purpose of the mitigation project in the North community was to prevent those fires from happening. Sterna added the project also produced an Environmental Assessment, which gave the department guidance on environmental sustainability, ecology, cultural considerations, threatened and endangered species and watersheds.

The project was funded by an approximately $450,000 grant from Homeland Security. Sterna said it was a cost share grant – meaning the federal government provided 75 percent of the funds and Los Alamos County contributed the remaining 25 percent.

“We were very fortunate to have been awarded the grant from Homeland Security,” he said.

Sterna added the fire department is submitting applications for additional funds to continue the project.

Additionally, LAFD and the County Open Space Division collaborate on fuels mitigation and open space oversight, Sterna said. The partnership between the Open Space Division, and the Fire Department has led to numerous opportunities to improve County property.

He explained after the Cerro Grande Fire, the County provided funding for the project and Craig Martin, who was the Open Space supervisor at the time, did a “wonderful” job in developing a community wildfire protection plan (CWPP). Sterna said the plan addresses wildland fire history, wildland fire risks to the County, and proposed cycles for mitigation. Furthermore, Sterna said Martin partnered with the Santa Fe National Forest to do broadcast and prescribed burns. Maps were also created of the different treated areas so these areas could continue to be addressed.

The collaboration continues between the fire department and the Open Space supervisor, who is now Eric Peterson. Sterna said Peterson is vital when it comes to addressing invasive species such as the Russian Olive and Chinese Elm.

This effort is “to create ecological sustainability, to promote biological diversity … we want to make sure we keep those big, healthy trees around as long as possible,” Sterna said.

Mitigation is key to preventing wildfires. Sterna said a healthy forest in Los Alamos County should have 30-50 trees per acre; the problem is forests in the area now have up to 200 trees per acre. If a wildfire happens, there is not much that can be done on the ground, Sterna said, adding that air support would be needed.

“The biggest and most important step is mitigation and prevention … if we can take steps to mitigate county acreage on a continual basis, that greatly reduces costs of fire suppression, and most importantly the impact on the land and the community,” Sterna said. “The number one goal for the LAFD Wildland division is mitigation.”

Besides mitigation, collaboration is important, too. Sterna said LAFD enjoys a great partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory.

“The teamwork has been tremendous,” he said. “We can’t do it without them.”

The LANL Wildland Management Program has been instrumental in assisting LAFD to provide the best customer service to LANL as well as the County, Sterna said.

One of the things LANL has provided the County fire department is an updated wildland fleet. Between LANL and the County, the fire department has acquired six NWCG Type 2 tactical water tenders, which Sterna said are larger than normal wildland brush engines. With these new additions, Sterna said the fire department has 14 wildland apparatus in its fleet.

“That is tremendous,” he said. “In the last five years we have overhauled our entire wildland apparatus fleet.”

He noted that none of this would be possible without the hard work from LANL procurement, LANL Fire Protection Division and the Department of Energy.
LANL is not the only important partnership. Sterna said LAFD has fostered great relationships with other agencies such as Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico State Forestry Division, Bandelier National Monument, Northern Pueblos Association and local governments including Santa Fe County.

Partnerships and collaborations are so important because Los Alamos shares a lot of borders, he said. If a fire is started and moves onto Los Alamos property or vice versa, Sterna said LAFD has worked with its partners over the course of the last several years to make joint operations as safe and efficient as possible.

These collaborations extend beyond the region and state. Sterna said in the last three years more than 30 members of LAFD have been deployed to 18 wildfires across the country. He added once those who were deployed return, they share their knowledge and experience with the rest of the department.

The public can help out, too.

Sterna noted another component of the Homeland Security grant was public education. Typically, people can go out and see first-hand what the fire department is doing but COVID halted that last year, Sterna said. In response, he said the fire department pivoted to a vendor that also works at the laboratory to do home assessments within the previously mentioned project area in the North Community. He said these assessments look at wildland fire risks to homeowners.

Sterna also collaborated with local insurance agents in an effort to standardize the information insurance companies look at when performing their own property assessments. The assessments are free of charge and homeowners can contact the LAFD administration office at 505.662.8301 to set up an assessment.

Furthermore, Sterna encourages the public to visit the LAFD page on the County website and check out its Ready, Set, Go program.

The webpage gives information on how to create a defensible space around homes. For instance, Sterna said residents are encouraged to remove pine needles from their gutters and trim tree branches. He added the County’s brush pickup program is excellent and should be taken advantage of.

“We have a lot of coals in a lot of different fires and they are all made to reach the goal of reducing wildfire risk to the County and its residents,” Sterna said.