Eagar Fire Department
 The
Eagar
Fire Department has 29 volunteers and one paid employee, the
chief, and operates on a $140,000 annual budget. The surrounding
communities have even fewer volunteers. Alpine has 10 and Nutrioso
has none. Finding volunteers for these small communities can be
difficult due to the part time residents. In Eagar there is lack
of a sound economic base and many volunteers work outside the town,
which can make it difficult to find volunteers that can respond
during the work week. 21 out of 29 volunteers in Eagar have 131-190
training and are red carded. Eagar Fire Department participates
in a mutual aid agreement with other local volunteer fire departments,
the Forest Service, Arizona State Land Division, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, and National Park Service.
In recent years Eagar has been able to improve
its fire equipment. In the 1980s, the town owned a 1946 Seagraves
engine and parked it in half of an old Quonset hut. Today, the Fire
Department has a modern look. In 2003, they purchased a Type 1 engine
with city funds for $173,000. In 2003, they also purchased a mini-pumper
with FEMA monies for $138,000 and completed an addition to the fire
station. All labor for the addition was in-house including public
works and fire department personnel.
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Urban Interface Fire Plan
In 2001, the Eagar Fire Department received
a $6,300 State
Fire Assistance grant to create an urban interface fire
plan for the community and properties outside city limits.
Eagar Fire Chief, Howard Carlson estimates the fire plan to
be completed in August 2004. The plan will provide emergency
responders a foundation for coordinate suppression in a major
fire situation by establishing protocols and radio frequencies.
It will also protect citizens by having actions pre-planned
in an emergency situation. The plan includes maps of the community,
water source locations, evacuation procedures and evacuee
locations, high risk areas, recommendation on fuel treatment,
information on known hazardous material storage, proposed
line construction locations and restrictions, flight hazards
and loss potential to structures. The fire plan will be made
available to all cooperating agencies with additional copies
available to resources that respond to a fire from outside
the local area.
Community Outreach
Education and outreach has been limited
to a fire prevention week in local schools, which occurs in
October each year. The Eagar Fire Department targets all the
schools with National Fire Safety materials. Outreach also
occurs through one-on-one contact, but not in any systematic
manner.
Annual Coordination
The USFS also schedules an Annual Coordination
meeting each spring. All organizations that deal with a wildfire
emergency attend including the local fire departments, utility
companies, Red Cross, Police, etc. They review processes and
procedures for each entity in the event of a wildfire.
Northeastern Arizona Fire Chiefs Association
Local fire departments have formed an organization
called the Northeastern Arizona Fire Chiefs Association and
they meet on a monthly basis to work on mutual
aid between departments.
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