There’s no doubt that Fire Fighting is a tough job, the training needed to be proficient, and the physical fitness required, to don the personal protective equipment and self contained breathing apparatus, that weighs approximately 75-85 pounds, is not easy. Yesterday City Attorney Petria Schreiber & Asst. City Attorney Dustin Johnson got to experience how difficult the job truly is.
The Alamogordo Fire Department is made up of 7 Fire Stations, 1 Fire Chief, 1 Deputy Chief, 3 Lieutenants, 16 Fire Fighters and 8 volunteer Fire Fighters. On average they respond to about 100 calls per month ranging from simple kitchen or electrical fires, to full on structure or vehicle fires, as well as medical response to CPRs in progress, lift assistance or baby on the way, they need to ready for anything!
Each Fire Fighter participates in about 400-500 hours of training each year, much of it to meet the requirements for the Insurance Service Office and the National Fire Protection Agency. The Alamogordo Fire Department also attends continuing education to keep up with training requirements for specialty teams such as, Fire Investigations, Hazardous Materials, Aircraft Firefighting, Rope Rescue and more. Quarterly the Alamogordo Fire Department has Live Fire Trainings to ensure all staff (professional and volunteer) are able to satisfy the training requirements.
“Yesterday was a special day for the Alamogordo Fire Department,” said Fire Chief Jim LeClair. “To have Maggie, Petria, Dustin and Michelle at our training and take a strong interest in our Department was motivating for myself, the Deputy Chief and our entire staff.” City Attorneys Schreiber and Johnson were able to put on all the gear and participate in the training to experience the intensity of being a Fire Fighter. “It was an honor and privilege to be a part of the training yesterday, I have so much respect for what our Fire Fighters do to protect our community, it is a very difficult job and the City is so lucky to have such incredible people protecting our community,” said Schreiber. Yesterday’s quarterly live fire training consisted of a behavioral burn training inside the burn building, where temperatures rose to 900+ degrees, a flammable liquids fire and a vehicle fire training.
“It was gratifying to see Petria and Dustin from our Legal Department come out and participate in our live fire training, get to see them interact with staff and truly have a good time was inspirational, ” said LeClair. Johnson said, “It is a personal honor to be included in the Fire Department training, and I am humbled by the magnitude of what their position entails. Our Fire Department’s continued training efforts is part of what makes them so special and their vigorous training schedule is a testament to how seriously they take our community’s safety.”