A community event honoring those who answered the call when the 267 Fire erupted west of Portales in early April was held in the Memorial Building. Originally planned for a picnic in The City Park, volunteers quickly changed gears with the weather turning chilly and held the picnic inside with Sodexo serving up hot dogs with all the fixings, soft drinks from Pepsi, ice cream bars from DFA and cookie from Farmers Country Market.
Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Karl Terry conducted a brief program thanking the heroes as well as a blessing for the responders and victims of the fire.
“Our board considered naming these responders as our Volunteers of the Month for May,” said Terry. “That didn’t seem adequate to express the community’s thanks and appreciation. We felt sure our community would step up in a bigger way if we asked and in short order we had the food and grill donated to throw a picnic.”
The fire broke out in grassland just west of the City of Portales shortly after noon on April 10. With winds gusting upwards of 70 mph the fire was very dangerous. Portales Fire Chief Gary Nuckols said in his 25 years of firefighting the fire ranked among the top three most dangerous wildfires he had seen in terms of fire behavior.
Before it was over, four homes had been destroyed and two individuals, including a firefighter, were injured because of the blaze. The fire consumed close to 3,000 acres and was stopped just short of a subdivision with numerous homes.
First responders were served first and then the community and volunteers The room settled into stories of gratitude and smiles as our community celebrated and honored our Fire Departments and Police Department. .
A heartfelt Thank You to all who served!
Photos courtesy of Alisa Gore-Boswell
