Rash of fires

GRANTS, N.M. – The Grants Fire and Rescue and Cibola County Fire Command have been busy as a rash of fires has recently plagued the City of Grants. These recent fires have not been intentional, and were never intended to start larger fires. Cibola County Fire Marshal and Emergency Manager Dustin Middleton said that of the recent fires, most have been started by people with nowhere to go that were just trying to stay warm.

Route 66 Motel

The Route 66 Hotel in Grants, New Mexico, was ravaged and a good deal of the building was destroyed by fire in the late evening of November 7. This inferno shut down sections of Santa Fe Avenue in an effort to protect the firefighters who combatted the blaze and kept their work space clear of extra distractions.

Officials are unclear on the exact time the fire started, but stated that the fire began when at least one person without a home attempted to escape the cold by starting a fire inside one of the rooms. Fire Marshal Middleton explained whatever was used to start the fire was completely destroyed, and that the fire started on the bare floor.

“When you look at that building, it’s a lot of wood inside,” Middleton said, explaining that the fire first caught the wooden floor of the motel, and slowly crept up the rest of the building before destroying whole rooms.

Firefighting crews arrived on scene quickly to address the large inferno and ran into an issue with the nearest fire hydrant, it didn’t work as they attempted to use it to get water. Middleton credited an excellent working relationship between firefighting agencies for getting the fire put quickly.

This working relationship came into play as the Milan Volunteer Fire Department and the San Rafael Volunteer Fire Department began using their Tinder Trucks, which can haul large quantities of water at a time, to transport the water necessary to fight off the blaze.

The fire encroached very close to local business Sacred Winds, which provides internet service to the people of Cibola County, noticing this, fire crews moved quickly to save the business and its equipment from being scorched. Sacred Winds thanked fire fighters for their quick thinking which not only saved their equipment and building, but prevented any internet service disruptions.

In the process of fighting this fire an explosion occurred between two of the rooms, sending one firefighter to Cibola General Hospital with minor injuries. The explosion is what Middleton called a “smoke explosion.”

“Smoke is unburned gas,” Middleton explained, saying that the condensed nature of the smoke contributed to the explosion which was so large it blew out all of the glass in the building.

With the assistance of MVFD and SRVFD, GFR and Cibola Fire Command successfully put out the blaze, using nearly 40,000 gallons of water.

This fire was not started intentionally, and was the result of at least one person trying to escape the cold weather.

BNSF Railroad ties

Around 7 am on Nov. 3 calls began to come in about a fire just behind the Burlington North Santa Fe building located at 201 W. Santa Fe Avenue. This fire sent thick black smoke into the sky, which blanketed the City of Grants.

The black smoke was the result of the burning chemicals like creosote that railroad ties are soaked in. According to Middleton, fire command believes this fire was started by person who found a small section of the railroad ties they could sit and relax at, trying to escape the cold they started a small fire which quickly caught the chemicalized wood.

The wood burned fast and hot, but fire crews were able to get a quick handle over it. With the assistance from BNSF crews and City of Grants Road Crews, burning railroad ties were moved and scattered on the ground to make the firefighting easier. “If they would have stayed stacked, we never would have been able to get it under control,” Middleton said, explaining that the intense heat trapped inside the stacked wood was making their mission even harder, separating the wood from the pile allowed the team to tactically use their resources and put out the fire before there were any injuries.

Other fires

Middleton explained that of all the major fires which have occurred around Grants have been either accidental or non-intentional.

A recent fire at the Junkyard on 66 Brewery and another on Jefferson Avenue were the result of mechanical failures.

“The rash of fires recently are unintentional; we do not believe they were trying to destroy property,” Middleton said.

Protect yourself from fires

Middleton cautions citizens that the time to make sure your heater is working correctly and to make sure your smoke stacks are cleaned is now, and that these simple things could prevent an accidental house fire.

Middleton encourages all people of Cibola to test their smoke detectors, each machine should have a button to test the sound, he explained. If a smoke detector is over 10 years old, Middleton suggests replacing it with a new detector, but says that a single detector is typically good for 10 years. The best way to stop a fire from destroying a home is to make sure it can’t happen in the first place.

Most of the firefighting positions in Cibola County are volunteer positions. Most of Cibola’s firefighters do not get paid for the work they do, despite the danger they put themselves in everyday. There are fire departments across Cibola County, from Candy Kitchen to El Morro, and they need help. Visit your local fire department today and inquire about joining you local team of heroes.