At their September 1 meeting, Kiwanians heard from Los Alamos Fire Chief Erik Litzenberg,
who discussed local and regional fire issues that face the community and the operations of the
Los Alamos Fire Department (LAFD), as well as Forest Service policies and activities.


The LAFD runs five operational fire stations, a training facility, and an administrative building. There are currently 165 uniformed personnel and 11 administrative staff. They receive around 2500 response calls per year, over half of which are for Emergency Management (EM) services.

They promote professionalism and future growth to support their mission of ensuring that Los Alamos and LANL are safe. Because of the hazards and complexity of protecting a National Lab, they provide a greater amount of training and manpower than would normally be expected for a community the size of Los Alamos. LAFD is one of very few departments that are internationally accredited. They run firefighter training programs, teach fire safety at the community’s public schools, employ a fire marshal to, among other duties, assess risks, promote community awareness, and actively deal with hazards before they become emergencies.

Both nationally and regionally, there has been an upward trend in the area burned by wildfires. Extreme events, such as mega fires, are becoming more frequent. LAFD is working to help make Los Alamos a fire-adaptive community with resilient landscapes, preparedness through the ready/set/go action plan, and effective wildfire response. Wild fires can promote healthy forests by clearing dead vegetation and promoting new growth. Litzenberg stated that our community has to figure out a way to accept wildfire’s benefits as well as its risks.