EXTREME FIRE DANGER

A quick scroll of the Valencia County Fire Department’s Facebook page from mid-February through April 5 shows 19 posts of crews on scene at various structure and field fires around the county.

“And those aren’t even all of them. Some of these were on burn days,” said VCFD Chief Matt Propp. “That was really the trigger, seeing these really big fires on controlled burn days with good weather. It was proof that conditions are perfect for these explosive fires and it was time to reign it in until we get a considerable amount of moisture.”

The run of big, fast fires, including 10 structure fires in seven days last month, was the final push to implement a 60-day ban on open burning starting March 25 throughout unincorporated Valencia County, Propp said, with the exception of propane grills for cooking.

“We also want to remind people if they are going to be welding or using grinders, to always have a water source on hand,” the chief said.

The city of Rio Communities and the city of Belen are also in the midst of a 60-day ban on open burning, while the village of Los Lunas implemented a 30-day ban and the town of Peralta has an open burn ban in place until May 13.

Propp said looking at the forecasted temperatures and precipitation models for the coming months, April, May and June are expected to be “extreme fire weather, and these rapidly expanding fires on approved open burn days have been extremely resource intensive. We’ve had our wildland crew at home, which was lucky, because they could handle the fast-moving brush fires and our crews could focus on structure protection.”

Most of the fires in March required responses from multiple agencies and multiple pieces of firefighting apparatus, the chief said.

“As a county, we’re doing a lot better, but we’re still not where we need to be,” he said in regards to staffing levels. “Any of these big fires require a response from multiple agencies, assuming we’re not already on a medical call or a car accident or another fire.”

With back-to-back fires across the county, Propp said the department received numerous calls basically asking what he and his staff were doing to prevent the blazes.

“The challenge we face, first and foremost, is our fire code does not allow us to enforce fire code on private residences,” he said. “It’s intended for commercial properties and multi-family dwellings, like apartments. There’s a misconception that a property with a lot of weeds and trash is a fire department issue, but in reality it’s a code enforcement issue, and they are equally as busy.”

In 2024, VCFD received about 6,000 calls for service, with crews running medical calls, motor vehicle crashes and of course, fires.

“We don’t have the resources to chase illegal burns,” Propp said. “The ban allows us to have enforcement power. If we end up at a house because of an illegal burn, if it causes damage on someone else’s property, we can cite them and take them to court.”

Propp encourages residents to continue to keep their property as clean as possible, which might mean having to bag up weeds and take them to the dump during the open burn ban.

“I know it’s an inconvenience, and I’m a little apprehensive about people creating big piles of weeds waiting for a burn day,” he added. “Something could spark and we have a big fire because of that store.

“We want people to be safe. If common sense says you shouldn’t light something on fire, don’t light something on fire. Conditions are perfect for these catastrophic fires and you don’t want to be the one responsible for burning down your neighbors house or hurting someone.”

The chief said he also got calls from people wanting to know why the burn ban was still in place after the bit of rain in the area this past weekend.

“These quick storms are in a way worse for us. It causes a quick growth to the underbrush, then it dries out fast in a couple of days,” he said. “Now it’s more dangerous.”

Propp said while the department is constantly monitoring weather conditions, weather models predict substantial precipitation for the region won’t come until late July, so he will most likely be recommending a fireworks ban this summer.

“I’m anticipating a decision by early May. We have to provide a 30-day notice period and, right now, I’m leaning towards a fireworks ban,” the chief said. “We are not going to see precipitation until late July and with all the other factors, we’re going to try to be proactive in preventing any large fires.

“Any ban would keep us with ‘safe and sane’ fireworks, so anything you can buy at Walgreens or Walmart. Anything other than that would be prohibited. We might need to look at adding in restrictions, such as where they can be used, like keeping them on pavement.

“I’d imagine there would be a decision (by the Valencia County Commission) made in the first week of May to give us time to consult with the state and (the county attorneys) to make sure we do everything within the rules.”