Quick Response Of Volunteer Firefighters Saves Mobile Home

By Veronique Masterson

DONA ANA — A fire Thursday morning that started in a rear shed of a mobile home unit, gives one homeowner a scare, but the quick response of paid volunteer firefighters keeps a minor incident from becoming a major blaze.

Dona Ana County fire officials said the fire was an accident; caused by welding materials in the shed adjacent to the home. Investigators said the homeowner went into the home briefly for breakfast. The fire spread quickly, destroying the shed, then moving to the mobile home.

But because of the three-minute response by volunteer firefighters nearby, the home was spared the same fate.

Officials said the home could have been a total loss, but because the county began paying for some of the firefighter volunteers, they were on-hand at the fire station when the call came in.

“With them being at the station, ultimately it’s a quicker response… The three-minute response time, definitely it’s an impact to the community,” said Dona Ana County Fire Marshal Paul Chavez.

Fire officials added that the average response time for volunteer firefighters working on-call is about 13 minutes, but because these volunteers are paid, they were able to work from the local station and respond that much more quickly to Thursday’s call.

Where other volunteer workers are off-site from a station, calls must be relayed to them, they next respond to the local fire station, then on to the site of a call, costing critical minutes in keeping fires from turning tragic.

The officials added they hope to receive funding to pay more volunteers and hopefully save precious minutes in fighting fires.