Wednesday, June 22, 2005

BFFD: Thermal imaging equipment could save lives

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Bosque Farms In an effort to protect the citizens of Bosque Farms and the firefighters who risk their lives, a committee has been formed to raise money for new life-saving equipment.

The Friends of the Fire Department was established in early March when Bosque Farms Fire Chief Spencer Wood, who was appointed to the position last year, realized that something needed to be done. Because the department's budget is only enough to pay for essentials, Wood and the members of the new group are committed to raise enough money for a thermal-imaging camera, a heavy-duty rescue saw, vehicle extrication equipment and tools.

The problem, Wood says, is that the department's funding hasn't increased in about 10 years, making it difficult to purchase new and necessary equipment. Despite being a municipal entity, the state is the department's main source of funding — allocating about $45,000 a year.

"The problem with that is everything else has obviously gone up, including the costs of operating a fire department and the equipment," Wood said. "The quarter-cent sales tax has really helped the county fire departments — their budgets have doubled — but we're still stuck where we were because we're in a municipality."

With a small budget, which is somewhat supplemented by the village for vehicle and building insurance, Wood said it's been a challenge to find enough funding for things such as a thermal-imaging camera, a tool used by firefighters to locate victims as well as locate fire and unforeseen hazards.

The Bosque Farms Village Council has appropriated $20,000 from next year's general fund to the fire department.

According to Wood, a 1999 nationwide study found that, without thermal-imaging equipment, firefighters were able to locate a victim 40 percent of the time and more than 30 percent couldn't find their way out of a burning structure.

The same study concluded that firefighters using the equipment, found victims 99 percent of the time and 100 percent could find their way out of structures. Wood said the thermal-imaging camera can be nothing but beneficial to the department and the residents of Bosque Farms.

"This is the technology that has changed the fire service," Wood said. "With this technology, you can see where you're going, you can locate the speed of the fire, you can locate victims and the assessment of the dangers involved is pretty much immediate.

"I've been doing this for 18 years and while the fire calls (in the village) have decreased, the severity of the calls, when we do get one, have increased," Wood said. "In the past year and a half, we've had two fatalities and two fires in manufacturing businesses which have been extremely dangerous."

According to Wood, every fire truck in Albuquerque carries a thermal imaging camera. But only a few departments in Valencia County, including Los Lunas, Tomé-Adelino and Peralta, are lucky enough to have one.

Because of the apparent advantages the thermal imaging camera would have for the department, the Friends of the Fire Department has made its purchase their priority. Lillie McNabb, one of nine members on the committee, said a fundraiser of this type is long overdue.

"This should have been started six years ago," McNabb said. "Personally, I feel so involved in this community, and I feel, with volunteers like Spencer and his crew, that we need to get behind them and back them up 150 percent."

McNabb said the first goal of the Friends of the Fire Department is to raise the $13,000 needed to purchase the imaging camera. For the past two months, the group has been knocking on doors asking residents and business owners to donate to the cause or buy a $30 ticket for a fundraising dinner.

"We are hoping residents will open their hearts to us and help us," she said. "This is a community project and $30 for a ticket, which is good for either one or two people, is very inexpensive for a life saved.

"This camera is just the first step; this camera needs to be brought into this village to save our volunteer firemen and to save our village residents," she said. "That's why I got involved and that's why the rest of the group became involved."

The barbecue dinner, which also includes entertainment by Next of Kin, will be held from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Bosque Farms Rodeo Arena Cowboy Hall. An auction will also be held during the evening to raise more money for the equipment.

Those interested in buying a ticket, donating cash or providing items for the auction may call Lillie McNabb at 869-2735 or Natalie Barger at 869-6626.

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