Story and Photos by Adrian Hedden
El Rito Media
achedden@currentargus.com

Firefighters battling wildland blazes in the forests of southern New Mexico have a new vehicle that could help contain the fires and evacuate locals, courtesy of the federal government.

The Bureau of Land Management’s Pecos District Office supplied a 2011 type 6 fire engine to the Bonito Volunteer Fire Department in Alto Dec. 19, augmenting the rural fire service’s resources in the area recently threatened by frequent wildfires.

Alto is situated just north of Ruidoso, amid Lincoln National Forest and historic Fort Stanton, which the bureau manages. The South Fork and Salt fires burned about 20,000 acres and led to at least two deaths in the area last July.

Type 6 engines are lightweight and intended for wildland firefighting. The federal agency was able to provide the vehicle to the fire department as part of a federal program to donate used equipment to local first responders after it has completed its federal lifetime.

In this case, the truck reached the 3,000-usage hour mark, tracked by a clock in the vehicle, meaning it could no longer be used by the bureau to fight fires on federal land.

When such a vehicle becomes available, federal agencies notify area first responders who can apply to acquire the vehicle at no cost to the local agency.

The entire process takes about six months, said Matthew Thomas, wildland fire operations specialist at the bureau’s Pecos District Office.

Factors considered in evaluating the application include proximity to Bureau of Land Management land, the age of the local agency’s equipment and the overall need of the area, Thomas said.

He said the Bonito Fire Department was an ideal candidate because its district abuts and in places overlaps with land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and the State Forestry Department.

The transfer will also ensure Bonito’s equipment is consistent with the bureau’s, Thomas said.

“We’ve known for years that they have significant wildfire risk in Ruidoso,” Thomas said. “Usually, the volunteers beat us there. If they have reliable stuff similar to us, we can get there and interface with it.”

Bonito Volunteer Fire Department Chief Spencer Baldwin said the smaller, lightweight type 6 vehicles are good for entering tight areas and evacuating people from the rough terrain of the region.

“The majority of our calls are wildland fires,” he said. “Some of our roads are steep and narrow. These smaller ones are good for getting into the seat of the fire.”

Before being awarded the engine the department had two 2002 type 6s, Baldwin said, but one broke down when the clutch failed while responding to the South Fork and Salt fires.

A new type 6 engine costs about $200,000, Thomas said. The one given Bonito was worth about $60,000, he said.

“It’s a challenge to come up with the money to buy a new apparatus, budget-wise,” Baldwin said. “Our primary thing with that fire was evacuation. It’s hard to get our bigger trucks into tight areas to get people out.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.