Arkansas first responder task force working Fourth of July week in New Mexico

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Instead of shooting fireworks from home, a team of firefighters from across Arkansas is spending Independence Day in New Mexico.

Arkansas Task Force 1 arrived in Ruidoso, New Mexico, on Saturday, hours after water rose to eight or nine feet in some spots according to village officials. The flooding prompted nearly 80 swift water rescues in two days.

The force is trained and equipped to respond to various search and rescue situations, usually on the front lines of in-state disaster recovery. However, for the fourth time since they were founded in 2010, they are responding to another state.

“We’ve been to Texas on a hurricane, Florida on a hurricane, Louisiana hurricane and now the swift water rescues in New Mexico,” Andy Traffanstedt said.

Traffanstedt is the Program Manager for the task force. He stays in Arkansas to ensure the team has all the resources it needs. Everyone on the team has another job when they are not deployed. Traffansted is the director of the Pulaski County Office of Emergency Management.

“We go on the bigger, more intense type calls,” Traffanstedt explained.

Scot Erwin is the team leader on the ground. He’s joined by others from Traffanstedt’s office and firefighters from Little Rock, Conway, Jonesboro, Rogers, Springdale and Bella Vista fire departments.

“Most of our guys in some way they are the same way they are when we’re back home. They want to help what they need help, so when they ask, we’re usually ready to go,” Erwin said.

The South Foote and Salt Fires devastated the village of Ruidoso in June. They claimed at least two lives and destroyed around 1,400 structures.

Because of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, several states answered the call before Arkansas, Texas, and Tennessee task forces arrived Saturday.

Erwin said New Mexico’s monsoon season makes rainfall far different than Arkansas. The elevation caused by mountains and desert climate with the lack of vegetation can cause just one inch of rain to flood an area.

“With the burn scars already here, conditions change really fast,” Erwin said.

While not responding to heavy rain, the task force is training in new ways to search and rescue, even on a holiday.

“We’re just happy to help,” Erwin said. “We’re on an operational period from 10 to 10, so hopefully they’ll have some fireworks up here, but we have to be ready to go at any minute.”

Arkansas Task Force 1 weighs if the team is needed for assistance in the Natural State when considering deployments. They draw the team from a variety of locations to ensure no one place is lacking the protection it needs.

Arkansas can also receive help from other state’s task forces. The team first learned of this weeklong commitment last week and said it may get extended another week.

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