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Tusayan Fire Department counts record calls

Tusayan Fire Department reported its busiest year on record last year, finishing 2006 with 279 calls. It's the eighth increase in the eight years since the department was established

"We're pretty much rocking and rolling," said Fire Chief Robbie Evans.

As has been the case since the beginning, most of the calls -­ between 230 and 240 -­ have been medical. A number of those have been out of district, south of Valle and up onto Highway 180 as the department fills the gap for the defunct Valle Department.

"Park Service stands up for us. We have a mutual aid agreement," Evans said. "When we do go south, we call the Airport, we notify them. We call the park so somebody is covering Tusayan."

It's an ongoing challenge that still doesn't have a solution, though they are working to petition the county for some kind of reimbursement.

"What we're trying to do right now is draft a letter to the county and get letters of support from the sheriff, DPS, NPS and some other agencies for some kind of support, because insurance companies don't want to pay unless you transport," he said. "If you think about it, it takes a quarter of a tank of gas to take a truck to Valle and back. That's almost 50 bucks."

The department got its own ambulance last year, from Guardian, for $2,000. It's equipped for basic and advanced life support and while it isn't the primary ride to Flagstaff, Evans said it's come in handy.

"It gives us the option when Guardian is gone, or when we go out on an accident and there are six or eight people, to get them up out of the snow and put them someplace," he said.

He said the coming year already looks to be busier.

"Last January we had 12 calls," he said. "This year we're already up to 17."

The department is about halfway through firefighter certification training. The class started with 18 and has lost only one. Evans said it includes members from the Ponderosa Fire District (formerly Parks-Bellemont), Tusayan and Xanterra. That class will graduate this spring.

The department also recently received a $4,400 Rural Fire Assistance Grant which they used to purchase three BendixKing digital radios to help them keep pace with proposed upgrades in the park. They plan to purchase three more if they get another Rural Assistance Grant this year.

"All of the federal agencies are going digital," Evans said. "It'll keep us up to date on interagency communication. We'll be able to talk on wildland fires if anything big happens."

To test those communication capabilities and help with planning, he said they are considering staging a mass casualty exercise that will involve emergency responders from the region.

"Maybe NPS and a bunch of us will do a simulated bus accident with quite a few injuries and get everybody involved," he said. "We can do our ICE and group talking and have these agencies come together and work as a team. How we're going to get 35 people to Flagstaff medical center with three or four ambulances."


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