Los Alamos County Fire Chief Troy Hughes speaking Tuesday at the Rotary meeting at Cottonwood on the Greens. Photo by Nancy Cerutti
ROTARY News:
Los Alamos County Fire Chief Troy Hughes, who celebrates his 35th year in his fire service career in February, spoke at the Tuesday meeting of the Rotary Club of Los Alamos.
He described the Los Alamos Fire Department (LAFD) and its role in the community and at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
Going back to 1997, LAFD was one of the first five fire departments to earn international accreditation. The Department’s guiding principles are stated as “Walks With P.R.I.D.E.”, embracing Professionalism, Readiness, Involvement, Discipline and Excellence.
The Department employs 139 uniformed firefighters and 11 civilians, with a complex of buildings that includes five fire stations, one training fire station and one fire administrative office. The LAFD is responsible for more than 109 square miles of coverage of which 43 square miles are LANL properties.
Making LAFD unique among most other fire departments is its ability to suppress advanced nuclear, industrial fires and wildland fires; to offer multiple, specialized rescue operations; to provide emergency and non-emergency medical responses; and to deal with hazardous materials.
Presented as “Horizon/Challenges”, Hughes addressed continued wildfire threat, vehicle replacement, active shooter response, pre-incident training, leadership turnover due to retirement and responder health issues, which include cancers from exposures to hazardous materials and recognition of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Working in general with long-range plans of five years, the construction of three new fire stations will begin soon, as well as a new training center, he said.
In January, nine cadets will graduate from the Department’s 24-week Recruitment Academy.
The Rotary Club of Los Alamos meets at lunchtime Tuesdays at Cottonwood on the Greens at the Los Alamos County Golf Course. For information, call Linda Hull at 505.662.7950.