City's legal team participates in firefighter training

ALAMOGORDO — City Attorney Petria Schreiber and Assistant City Attorney Dustin Johnson stepped into the boots of the Alamogordo Fire Department (AFD) this week. 

“Yesterday was a special day for the Alamogordo Fire Department,” said Fire Chief Jim LeClair. “To have Maggie (Paluch), Petria, Dustin and Michelle (Brideaux) at our training and take a strong interest in our department was motivating for myself, the deputy chief and our entire staff.”

During their time with AFD, Schreiber and Johnson were outfitted in full firefighting gear, which weights around 75 to 85 pounds. After receiving equipment, Schreiber and Johnson participated in intense training exercises. The training included a behavioral burn inside a burn building, where temperatures rose to over 900 degrees, as well as a flammable liquids fire and a vehicle fire training.

“It was an honor and privilege to be a part of the training yesterday,"Schreiber said. "I have so much respect for what our firefighters 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."

Johnson said he was humbled by the magnitude of what firefighting entails. 

“It is a personal honor to be included in the fire department training," Johnson said. "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.”

The Alamogordo Fire Department consists of seven fire stations, one fire chief, one deputy fire chief, three lieutenants, 16 firefighters and eight volunteer firefighters.

On average, AFD responds 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 delivering babies – they are trained to be ready for anything, LeClair said. 

Each firefighter participates in about 400 to 500 hours of training each year, much of it to meet the requirements for the Insurance Service Office and the National Fire Protection Agency.

AFD also attends continuing education classes to keep up with training requirements for specialty teams such as, Fire Investigations, Hazardous Materials, Aircraft Firefighting, Rope Rescue and more. Quarterly, AFD has live fire training to ensure all staff, professional and volunteer, are able to satisfy training requirements, LeClair said.

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