By Lisa Maue
For the Ruidoso News

At the “Beyond our Backyard: Living at the WUI” conference Friday at the Ruidoso Convention Center, attendees will be able to see one of the most technologically advanced pieces of equipment available to wildland firefighters and emergency management professionals.

A Simtable from the Timberon Volunteer Fire Department will be set up at the conference. The interactive and portable table brings various wildfire, flooding, evacuation, storm and hazmat scenarios to life in real-time. By providing specific information, such as wind speed and direction, slope and terrain and the types of fuels, computer simulations can show how a fire is likely to behave and where it may track. It also simulates mitigation plans by using Geographic Information Systems overlays of structures, neighborhoods and entire communities as well as trucks, dozers and different fire equipment projected onto sand to represent a given area.

“We use the table for public outreach, but also in the fire department for training,” said Rick Merrick, rural community forester for the South Central Mountain Resource and Development Council. “It’s really a great visual for the public to see that ‘OK, here’s my house on this hill and I have a chimney effect below me. So what would happen to my house if a fire started at this spot with winds at this speed from this direction?’ We can a drop a drop onto the table to simulate a fire start and manipulate factors based on fuel models and topography. We can also see it in real-time and even speed it up. It is pretty impressive.”

The Simtable was made possible by a New Mexico Association of Counties grant. Merrick also noted that Lincoln County just received a Simtable as well.

The Simtable will be on display at the conference from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the trade show area. Rick Merrick from the the Mountain Resource and Development Council will have a booth and the fire chief from Timberon, Joe Wheeler, and his wife, Chris, will man the Simtable and answer questions.

The trade show and the talks by forest health experts April 11 are free and open to the public. The lunch and keynote speaker, Philip Connors, begins at 11:30 a.m., costs $15 and registration must be made before the event.

To register or for more information, please call ENMU-Ruidoso Community Education at (575) 257-3012. Vendor booths are also available.

Lisa Maue is a community education coordinator at ENMU-Ruidoso. She can be reached at (575) 257-3012 or by e-mail at lisa.maue@enmu.edu.