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Los Ranchos leaders hear wildfire-preparedness briefing; village to pilot sensor alerting
Summary
Public safety liaison Fred Rodasovich and the village emergency manager briefed trustees on mutual-aid arrangements, community alerts and a pilot Torch fire-detection sensor being tested by Albuquerque Open Space; trustees pressed staff on PNM arcing, notification options and tree maintenance.
Public safety liaison Fred Rodasovich and village emergency-management coordinator Jeff Phillips briefed the Board of Trustees on Feb. 18 about wildfire risks in the Bosque and a suite of preparedness measures the village is pursuing.
Rodasovich described the village’s contract relationship with Bernalillo County Fire Department and the region’s automatic mutual-aid agreements with surrounding departments and state forestry. He said the Bosque is managed under contract by Albuquerque Open Space and that the village is concerned about fuel loads there and about protecting nearby residential neighborhoods.
Rodasovich and Phillips outlined three preparedness priorities: (1) early detection through a pilot Torch sensor system that Albuquerque Open Space is testing; (2) community notification via the village’s text alerts, Bernalillo County Everbridge/reverse-911 and the integrated public-alert-and-warning system (IPAWS); and (3) vegetation management including a green-waste drop-off pilot and continued outreach about creating defensible space.
Rodasovich described the Torch sensors as an optical/gas-and-smoke detection system that can be placed on poles or ground mounts; he said individual sensors can cover up to roughly 10 acres depending on siting and line-of-sight constraints and that Albuquerque Open Space is evaluating optimal placements. He told trustees that a test deployment and an early-warning capability could notify fire agencies in minutes after a small ignition.
Trustees asked what residents should do when electrical lines arc in high winds. Staff advised calling 911 to verify there is no active fire and then working with the village’s emergency team (which maintains a direct line to PNM operations) to flag repeat arcing or hazardous trees for utility crews. Jeff Phillips added that Ready-Set-Go guidance ties directly to National Weather Service red-flag warnings and that the village’s incident-action-plan templates define initial and contingency actions.
Fred and staff said Bernalillo County will coordinate drone overflights to identify fuel hotspots and that a North Valley town-hall meeting on fire season preparedness is likely in early March. The board did not take any formal action but directed staff to continue coordination with county and state partners.
