money Eddy County and State of New Mexico plan for regional fire training in Carlsbad
Volunteer firefighters seeking training from the State of New Mexico could soon be able to do so in Eddy County.
Eddy County Fire and Rescue (ECFR) Chief Joshua Mack said a regional training hub in Carlsbad would alleviate the need for southeast New Mexico's volunteer firefighters to travel nearly four hours to the New Mexico Fire Training Academy in Socorro.
“It’s really hard for volunteers to take the time off from work to go up to the State Fire Academy and do a class,” he said. “If hazardous materials (training) is a 40-hour class, that’s a whole week of work you’d have to go up and train. We can do in-house and we do have other options. The actual fire stuff we want to be able to incorporate other agencies with us.”
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Mack said the State of New Mexico could send personnel to conduct training in Carlsbad.
“It gives people an opportunity to experience our training center as well,” he said.
The New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) oversees the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Socorro training academy said Brian Sayler, department spokesperson.
He said the Academy was just one source of firefighter training in New Mexico.
“Departments and local training centers across the state routinely host state-sanctioned training and certification testing. There may be some specialized trainings that are only available in Socorro, but there is no state-level requirement that New Mexico firefighters be trained at Socorro in order to serve in their local departments,” Sayler said.
He said talks with Eddy County focused on building up the County’s existing training capacities to better support firefighters in Eddy and surrounding counties.
Mack said volunteer firefighters from Eddy, Chaves, Lea, Lincoln and Otero counties could travel to Carlsbad for fire training along with West Texas counties bordering Eddy County.
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Sayler said it was important for firefighter training and certifications to be easily accessible to New Mexico firefighters.
“Which is why the State Fire Marshal’s Office has been in discussions with Eddy County to help expand their existing training capacities, both for Eddy County and the surrounding area,” he said.
Sayler said the Academy in Socorro offered a broad range of fire-related courses from entry-level to advanced management.
“In addition to fire suppression classes, there are courses in technical rescue, hazardous materials, terrorist response, instructor qualifications, and business management,” he said.
The Academy also provided specialized training through partnerships with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Fire Academy (NFA), and many departments send students to the Academy to train with specialized equipment, Sayler indicated.
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During the Jan. 18 Eddy County Board of County Commissioners meeting, Mack said a deputy State Fire Marshal was expected in Carlsbad in March or April to evaluate ECFR’s training facility south of Carlsbad and potentially accredit it as a regional training facility for southeast New Mexico.
“With the required personnel, we could have full-fledged training,” said Steve McCutcheon, commission chairperson. “That’s a pretty big deal.”
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Carlsbad could become regional volunteer fire training hub
