Quemado Fire Drill Draws Big Crowd

By Anne Sullivan
For The Mountain Mail

At 8:30 a.m. on Friday, June 11th, all over Northern Catron County emergency responders received this page from the Sheriff’s Office in Reserve: “Quemado, Pie Town, Quemado Lake Fire Departments, Quemado and Pie Town EMS, Datil Fire Department as Mutual Aid and Catron County Fire Marshal. There is a fire at the Quemado School in the old gym involving students and members of the public. Please respond. This is a drill.”
And what a drill it was! Forty-four firefighters in full bunker gear and Emergency Medical Service personnel responded to the Quemado School where Quemado Fire Chief Jerry Armstrong, the Incident Com-mander, after doing a walk around to size up the situation, gave assignments to the various engine and water companies, located the fire, evacuated the premises, ventilated the building, set up hoses (both fire and water were simulated), and set up a staging zone where vehicles would park until assigned to a task.
All of this done while listening to two radios, reporting on the situation to dispatch in Reserve and answering questions from firefighters as they arrived from all over Northern Catron County. Catron County Fire Marshal Zina McGuire was there to consult and share the load.
Previously, Horse Mountain and Wild Horse Fire Depart-ments as well as Datil EMS were assigned to cover ‘real calls’ for Datil and Pie Town VFD’s should there be any during the drill. Fortunately there weren’t.
During the exercise various injuries were sustained and people were overcome by smoke inhalation (all of this also simulated). The patients were tended to by the EMTs and taken to hospitals by Quemado and Pie Town ambulances.
Firefighters wearing SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus) were inside the gym with hoses and ventilators when, at 10:30 a.m., every radio crackled with the order, “Mayday, Mayday. Everyone exit the building immediately, firefighter down!” Firefighters bearing hoses scurried out of the doors, as is the procedure.
Soon after, the word was given that the exercise was concluded and firefighters doffed their SCBAs to drink water, very necessary because of the extreme heat.
A tremendous amount of planning went into coordinating this event under the supervision of Catron County Fire Marshal Zina McGuire. Thanks go to Quemado Fire Chief Jerry Armstrong, Quemado Assistant Chiefs Sher Brown and Bill Lund, Quemado EMS Chief Cheryl Holliday, Pie Town Fire Chief Dan Lee and Pie Town EMS Chief Cyndi Lee, Quemado Lake Fire Chief Jim Campbell, Datil Fire Chief Bob Bassett and to everyone who responded.
After the trucks were loaded with their hoses, SCBAs and other equipment, Jerry Armstrong conducted an informative tour of the entire school and its grounds, pointing out the ‘need to know’ fire hazards for firefighters and escape routes for students and others. Then everyone retired to the Quemado Firehouse where the members from Red Hill served a tasty, healthy and most welcome lunch of six different salads plus cookies and brownies.
Following lunch, Fire Marshal Zina McGuire chaired an ‘AAR (After Action Review)’ during which, after input from Incident Commander Jerry Armstrong, Safety Officer Chuck Thompson, Accountability Officer Don Weaver and CISD (Critical Incident Stress Debriefing) Officer Norm Maisel, other fire department and EMS members spoke up with questions and suggestions.
All in all, the drill went very well and a lot was learned. Zina McGuire summed it up by saying,
“A fire does not behave one way for volunteers and another way for career departments. Volunteers need to pre-plan as much as we can for such an event as a fire at the school, so we will be ready and perform to the best of our abilities. ‘We will risk a lot…to save a lot, especially when that is someone’s life.’“

Photos by Anne Sullivan

Quemado Fire Drill Draws Big Crowd