Photos by Lynn Janes
Article by Mary Alice Murphy

Silver City Fire Chief Milo LambertThe May 2, 2024 Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon, which took place at the Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and Conference Center, featured Silver City Fire Chief Milo Lambert as the first speaker.

He began with a history of the Silver City Fire Department. The department began even before Silver City received its territorial charter in 1878. In 1875, a group of volunteers organized the first fire department and acquired the first fire engine in the Territory of New Mexico, a horse-drawn "chemical" engine.

In 1884, a fire broke out in Cohen's Mercantile. "They actually dynamited a store next door to keep it from spreading throughout the block downtown. It wasn't the fire engine that saved it. It actually added to the fire. They pushed the engine into the fire."

After the Cohen Mercantile fire, the department reorganized and the town approved $700 toward a Maxfield steam engine and a Stillman hook and ladder. In 1915, the town purchased the first motorized fire engine at a cost of a "shocking $4,000." He said a picture of the town's fire engine at the then-station at the intersection of Spring and Arizona streets was on the company's catalogue that went nationwide.

About 1930, the department moved into the Ailman House (which now houses the Silver City Museum). At that time the building housed City Hall before it moved to Bullard and Broadway. "They had to bring the garage to the northwest end of the building, which is now the main exhibit room for the museum."

The chief at that time was Roland Ball. His wife had a baby in the Ailman house and that daughter, Bobbie Neal-Little "stayed in the house in some way until her recent passing. She was very involved with museum activities. Her grandson continues the tradition, as he is now a firefighter. That's why I say they never left."

In 1932, the town purchased a Ford American LaFrance engine, and in 1939, they purchased Engine 39. Chief Ball had to go to Denver to pick up the engine in October 1940, and he drove back in a snowstorm in the open cab engine. "There's some good horror stories about how he felt about that truck," Lambert said to laughter. The engine had about 95 horsepower in its prime and could get up to 60 miles per hour going downhill. "We still have this truck. It's at Station 2. It still operates, it still runs, but it doesn't have brakes, so we're not moving it. We had it in the Fourth of July parade about four years ago, but you had to feather the brake to get it to stop, going about 2 miles per hour."

In 1965, the firefighters, who had been volunteers up to that time, began to be paid, with six on staff that were paid. In 1967, they hired a chief out of Albuquerque, who came and expanded the staff to 14 paid, which gave them 7-person shifts of 48 hours on and 48 hours off. In 1970, they started building station 1; in 1992 station 2, when they expanded to 21 members, making three 7-person shifts, with usually 6 person, as one person was off for vacations.

Lambert read the mission statement, which says: "Dedicated to being actively engaged in the community through public education and fire prevention, while diligently maintaining a strong state of preparedness to respond to emergencies."

The calls the department ran in 2023 totaled 2973, with 29 structure fires, which can require anywhere from six to 20 individuals. Dealing with a small fire can take about four hours, because they have to extinguish it and then make sure it doesn't rekindle. They also have to investigate the cause.

"You have to understand that we also run on everything that no one else knows how to fix. I got a call recently about a dead pet llama in a resident's front yard. We rescued an escaped pet parrot on Boston Hill. I took us about seven hours to catch it. The owner was in hysterics. 'I've had the parrot through three wives; I can't afford to lose the parrot.' The fire department picks up the 'what do we do with this?' moments. "

"Outside of the calls, we do public safety," Lambert said. "We inspect 732 businesses annually. We do fire investigations. We test every fire hydrant every year. We help with business pre-planning to see how we would make entry to save a person. We enter it into a system, so we're familiar with all buildings."

He said they also do public education courses on how to use fire extinguishers. He told the story of a fellow who was trying to put out a fire. He pulled the pin and then threw the extinguisher into the fire. "It didn't put it out."

The department also does fire drills and evacuations classes for residents, as well as businesses. They also provide fire prevention classes, and "every year, we go to the Rec Center to teach people about the dangers of dehydration and about how to use sunscreen. We attend public events. We keep busy with public education. Please reach out to us, if you want a class for your business or school."

Lambert said the department is manned 24/7, so the response is quicker than for volunteer fire departments, where the volunteers have to respond to the station and "bunker up."

Assistant Fire Chief Aaron Seavers"Our shared jurisdiction with the volunteer fire departments is safety," Assistant Fire Chief Aaron Seavers continued. "Our legal jurisdiction is Silver City, but we definitely respond to events outside of the town boundaries. The VFDs also help us immensely."

Because the department is a municipal facility, "we have a large amount of regulation. Each fire fighter is required to complete 292 hours of training each year. We have developed a system that allows us to do that. We must meet two different overtime regulations, and we have mandatory overtime. We're a tight knit group."

On funding the department, Lambert said the general fund gets its money through the New Mexico Fire Fund and the state EMS (emergency medical services) Fund.

"Our general fund covers all our payroll and operating costs, primarily through the New Mexico Fire Fund," he said. He also noted that 3 percent of vehicle and home insurance also goes into the department's funding.

The Insurance Services Office rates every area of the state, with an ISO rating. The rating determines how much a resident pays in insurance for their homes. The lower the rating the better. The Silver City area has an ISO rating of 3, which means that the department can reach any part of the city boundaries within 26 minutes.

For EMS medical equipment, the funding comes from the state EMS fund through the Department of Finance and Administration.

"We interface through the Dispatch Authority," Lambert said. "They determine which departments to call depending on the location of the situation."

He noted the two-tier system of EMS calls. "The hospital has the legal responsibility to take the patient to the nearest facility. We supplement the service for them. Sometimes, we can get to a person quicker. We start the treatment, then EMS takes over and takes you to the hospital, if required. Silver City wanted to take care of our citizens, so we pitch in to make sure they get the care they need. That's why sometimes, you will see two ambulances at a scene, to make sure our citizens get the care as soon as possible."

On his own service as fire fighter, Lambert said he started in 2003. In 2008, he was named Silver City fire marshal to oversee investigations and training. "I've been 21 years with the department, entirely rewarding the whole time. "

He answered a question he receives about what a resident should do in case of fire. "Close the bedroom door to keep from perishing from smoke. The second best is to put your address on your house, so that the responders can find you."

Lambert addressed the "good intention calls." These are non-emergency calls. He also recommended that every house install smoke detectors.

Chamber Board Member Bruce Ashburn, who works locally with PNM, said: "We have been listing all the things that can happen. We filed a plan yesterday (May 1) of what to do if we have to shut off the power. The first person I called on developing this plan was Chief Lambert. He gave me names of people I should involve in creating the plan. A lot of his team participated, so I want to publicly say: 'Thank you.!'"

Lambert said everyone worries about what will happen with an incident at the hospital. "I said what about the sewer plant? What about if the water is shut off and people won't have water coming out of their faucets? That all went into the PNM plan."

Raul TurrietaThe next speakers were Raul Turrieta and Silver City Museum Director Bart Roselli talking about the Burlesque Baseball event that would take place on May 18 at Western New Mexico University.

Silver City Museum Director Bart RoselliRoselli said in 1880, burlesque was just satire. "This event will have events for adults playing 'burlesque baseball,' as well as T-ball for kids. There will be prizes and gifts. The Open Space Brewery will offer beverages, including Frozen Rope beer. We'll have hot dogs. It's all a fundraiser for the museum and takes place at Old James Stadium at Western at 1 p.m. We picked it up from the Territorial Charter event in February and scheduled it for warmer weather. Everyone should dress up. We will have prizes for the best costume, the best dance. The museum has 1880 costumes if you want to see what you can dress as."

Chamber Director Romeo CruzChamber Director Romeo Cruz thanked Mi Casita for catering the luncheon. He and others listed the events that would take place in May and June, as well as the beginning of July.

May 3 Give Grandly

May 4 Grant County Community Concert Association final concert of the season

May 11 Fight Like a Girl

May 17 beginning of LULAC state conference

May 25 and 26 Blues Festival

May 29-June 2 Gila Wilderness Centennial

June 6-9 Fiesta Latina

June 7 Grant County Art Guild First Friday events

June 21 and 22 Wild, Wild West Rodeo

July 4 Fourth of July events, parade, Gough Park and Ice Cream Social at Silver City Museum.

Cruz concluded the meeting by saying: "If you are planning an event, a wedding, a birthday party, a meeting, just call us to save a space here at the Conference Center."