Penasco Vol. Fire Department:
The Penasco Volunteer Fire Department is located in the Sacramento Mountains surrounding the Rio Penasco River in Southern Chaves County. The department was started in 1953, at that time Edmund Runyan was the Chief and Hezzie Powell was the Assistant Chief and Hazel Cleve was the Secretary. The members donated cattle sprayers to equip the department at first, mounting the equipment on racks to enable them to slip into the back of a pickup. Shortly afterwards a 1936 fire truck was donated to the department by the Artesia Fire Department. Since that time, the department has added an addition to its existing station, acquired a sub-station on land donated by a member of the community and is the only department in Chaves County to own a Humvee.
The department covers approximately 90 square miles of rough mountainous terrain that requires innovative ways to provide fire protection and the Humvee is one way to address these needs, this department has just finished drilling a well and installing a water storage tank to help improve their water capabilities, they are currently in the process of purchasing a 3 to 4,000 gallon tanker to supplement their water storage.
They have an ISO rating of 9 and received a State fire fund allotment of $72,028 to operate with this year. They have just awarded a bid for the construction of their second Main Station.
This department has 22 members and their Current Fire Chief is Jim Ellett who oversees the department as it faces the challenge of providing Urban-Interface Wildland Fire Protection to the many homes, ranches and businesses in the district. They have apparatus consisting of:
One Pumper:
1996 Chevrolet, 1,000gpm pump with a 1,250-gallon tank.
Two Initial Attack Vehicles:
1995 Hummer VLC2, 75gpm pump with a 300-gallon tank.
1998 Chevrolet 4X4 Crew Cab 75gpm pump with a 300-gallon tank.
One Rescue Unit:
1995 Southern Coach, 1,250gpm pump with a 1,250-gallon tank.
Other Vehicles:
A gooseneck trailer with a 250gpm pump and a 1,200-gallon tank.