Situation Report: Motor Vehicle Accident near High Rolls Tunnel.

At 3:15 today, High Rolls Fire responded to a vehicle accident slightly west of the High Rolls Tunnel. Response included Fire Suppression and Rescue units with personnel, including AMR ambulance from Alamogordo. No major injuries noted.

Photos not available at this time.

De-Brief at Main Station Tonight...

We will be holding an incident de-briefing for the Fresnal Canyon Rescue, at the Main Fire Station tonight. Members please show up so we can discuss issues related to our response to this incident.

Situation Report: Rollover Near Tunnel

At around 4:00 pm today, the High Rolls Fire Department responded to an overturned pick-up truck on Highway 82 just west of the High Rolls Tunnel. One person sustained injuries and was removed from the vehicle by rescue personnel. It is suspected the accident was due to a large boulder rolling from above the road level and striking the vehicle. Highway 82 was closed approximately 1 1/2 hours.

Situation Report: Canyon Rescue at High Rolls Tunnel

On Saturday Night, June 20th, High Rolls Fire Department was called to rescue an injured hiker at the bottom of Fresnal Canyon, in the creekbed. This area is extremely rough and consists of a large box canyon with extremely steep sides. No regular access points are available. With the help of local fire departments and regional SAR teams, High Rolls Fire completed a successful rescue of this hiker using life safety ropes and low angle rescue techniques. This involved a night-time hoist of 400ft or more to the High Rolls Tunnel overlook.

Note to Fire Department members:
Great job working together on the Mountain Rescue response last night. Nerves got a little frayed, and plans did not always work out as expected, but we all pulled together and got it done. Everybody came back safely and the patient was removed from a precarious position.

Thanks for the hard work!

July Training: FIT-5 Interior Attack

The manufacturer's representative for the FIT-5 units will be in our area to conduct training on July 15th, 2009. This training is scheduled to be conducted at the Otero County fire training facility on Hwy 70 , west of Alamogordo. This training coincides with the scheduled meeting of the Otero County Firefighter's Association, which begins at 8 pm. Members from other fire department's and agencies are invited to observe.

Members, we will need at least four personnel with full structural PPE in order to conduct this training/demo. As many personnel who can attend the better. Please let the Fire Chief know if you plan to attend. We will need one engine (610 or 614) and four personnel with PPE to be there by 5:30pm to get set up for the night's training. We will also need someone to document the training with pictures or video.

Mental Exercise #1

How would you handle this situation...

How would you lift this load off the driver? What options are available? Is the crane the only option? How would we handle this if it occurred 15 minutes from now in our district?

New Technology for High Rolls FD

The High Rolls Fire Department has bought two FIT-5 devices. The FIT-5 is a Fire Interruption device that is used to knock down a fire until additional water and hose-lines can be moved into place. It is a large round pack that is tossed into the structure near the seat of the fire. It operates by ejecting fire suppressing chemicals and smothers the fire in the incipient stage. It can be deployed by a single firefighter, and can delay progress of a working fire long enough that hose-lines can be put into place for final extinguishment.

This device is scheduled to be placed into service first at the Piney Woods, and Haynes Canyon substations.

Training Announcement

Training is scheduled for Tuesday, 8th June, at the Main station. The topic will be basic Wildland Fire skills.