Albuquerque, NM, June 18, 2025 — The Cibola National Forest and Grasslands, in its ongoing effort to protect lives and property, has deployed a 13-person federal and state, multi-agency National Fire Prevention Education Team (NFPET). The Fire Prevention Education Team's purpose is to reinforce local wildfire prevention resources and to bring special wildfire prevention planning, logistics, and operations expertise to complex situations. Like Incident Management Teams, NFPETs are emergency resources called to meet the host unit's wildfire prevention goals and objectives. The NFPET is to partner with local agencies and groups to promote wildfire safety messaging and to reduce the chances of human-caused wildfires.
According to Francisco Salazar, U.S. Forest Service Southwestern Region Prevention Program Manager, "This is an exciting opportunity to have a team arrive proactively to help bolster the Cibola National Forest and Grasslands' existing prevention program and provide training opportunities to build local prevention capacity. This NFPET will collaborate with local agencies, partners and businesses to prepare our area for wildfire conditions. The campaign slogan "Spark Safety, Not Wildfires" summarizes the efforts to reduce wildfires caused by people, particularly from unattended campfires, debris burning, equipment, and vehicle use."
Stacey Grimes, Team Lead, commented "Our goal is to raise awareness as to what everyone can do to prepare for and prevent a wildfire. To this end, the Team will distribute prevention and preparedness messaging using all avenues of public outreach: social media, local events, public venues, radio and television interviews." Grimes reminds everyone to "never leave your campfire or burning debris pile unattended and make sure all fires are out cold before leaving. Before burning debris, check weather conditions and never burn on windy days. Always check for local fire restrictions before lighting any type of fire." Should you see smoke, or a wildfire, call 911. Everyone has a part to play to protect our public lands and communities from wildfires.
For any questions regarding the Cibola National Forest and Grasslands NFPET, please contact Francisco Salazar
