New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
Chapter 25 - STATE FIRE MARSHAL
Part 10 - FIRE PROTECTION FUND
Section 10.25.10.7 - DEFINITIONS

A. accreditation means to give official authorization or approval; or to recognize or vouch for as conforming to a standard;

B. certified fire department means a fire department that has been certified pursuant to paragraph 10.25.10.11 of this rule;

C. certification means to attest authoritatively; specifically, the issuance of a document that states that one has demonstrated the knowledge and skills necessary to function in a particular field, by a testing procedure;

D. certifying entity means an organization that is accredited, or a government agency statutorily authorized to issue certificates;

E. competent means capable; fit to perform the assigned tasks;

F. fire department means an organization created by any municipality, county, or other governmental entity entitled to fire protection funds and capable of providing fire suppression and related activities;

G. fire chief means the highest-ranking officer in charge of a fire department;

H. fire company means a group of members that is under the direct supervision of an officer or leader; trained and equipped to perform assigned tasks; arrives at the incident scene on the fire apparatus, or assembles at the scene prior to assignment; usually operates with one piece of apparatus; examples of companies are pumper/engine, truck/ladder, service, elevating platform, rescue, wild land, hazardous materials, and emergency medical/ambulance;

I. fire protection fund (FPF) means funds distributed pursuant to the Fire Protection Fund Act, Section 59A-53-1 NMSA 1978;

J. fire marshal means the state fire marshal as established under the State Fire Marshal Act, Section 59A-52-1 NMSA 1978;

K. fire service apparatus means a motorized vehicle designated to respond to fire service functions performed by the fire department;

L. fire service means all fire departments and fire department members that have the skills and equipment needed to perform the functions of a fire department based on NFPA standards or nationally accepted practices; fire service functions performed by fire departments ensure public safety and health; fire services functions may include, but are not limited to, structural firefighting, wild land firefighting, emergency medical services, rescue, and hazardous materials;

M. fire suppression means the activities involved in controlling and extinguishing fires; fire suppression shall include all activities performed at the scene of a fire incident or training exercise that expose fire department members to the dangers of heat, flame, smoke, and other products of combustion, explosion or structural collapse;

N. initial attack apparatus means a fire service apparatus that meets the general requirements of the applicable NFPA standard and has a permanently mounted fire pump of at least 250 gpm capacity, a water tank, and a hose body; the primary function is to initiate a fire suppression attack on structural, vehicular, or vegetation fires, and to support associated fire department operations;

O. insurance services office, inc (ISO) means an independent statistical, rating, and advisory organization that serves the property and casualty insurance industry. ISO collects information on a community's public fire protection and analyzes the data using its fire suppression rating schedule (FSRS). ISO then assigns a public protection classification from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents the best public protection and Class 10 indicates no recognized protection;

P. local government means either the municipal or county governing body that governs a given fire department;

Q. main station means a structure owned or leased by the local government that provides adequate protection for all apparatus designated to respond from the structure; as a minimum, the structure should contain an area dedicated for administration, classrooms or a training area, and restrooms; the structure shall house at least one apparatus that meets the criteria for an initial attack or pumper apparatus; the structure shall serve as the command and control station for either all or a designated portion of the department's response area; each fire department shall have at least one main station; if the fire department has more than one main station, there shall be a minimum of three fire companies under the direct control of the senior-ranking officer assigned to each main station; the companies shall be housed in the main station or in substations that are under the command of the senior-ranking officer; separate buildings that house only fire service administration and that are not co-located with other stations may also be considered main stations;

R. may means an optional or discretionary requirement;

S. member means a person involved in performing the duties and responsibilities of a fire department under the auspices of the organization; a fire department member may be a full-time or part-time paid employee, a paid or unpaid volunteer; may occupy any position or rank within the fire department, and may or may not engage in emergency operations;

T. NFPA standard means the most recent edition of the national fire protection association standard for a given subject;

U. New Mexico firefighters training academy (NMFTA) means the primary institution within the state fire marshal's office responsible for developing or conducting fire service related training; the NMFTA is accredited by the international fire service accreditation congress (IFSAC); as it pertains to this system, the mission statement for IFSAC is to measure the level of professionalism of the fire service internationally through the accreditation of those entities who administer standardized written or manipulative examinations of the required knowledge and skills to meet nationally and internationally recognized professional qualification standards;

V. operational/functional status means a certified fire department that has sufficient membership to ensure the response of at least four members to structure fires; all four members shall have sufficient structural firefighting protective clothing and be, as a minimum, competent at the firefighter I level as established by the NMFTA bureau;

W. position task book (PTB) means a document that lists the minimum performance requirements (tasks) for a specific position within the fire service in format that allows a trainee to be evaluated against written standards;

X. pumper apparatus means a fire department apparatus that meets the general requirements of the applicable NFPA standard and has a permanently mounted fire pump of at least 750 gpm capacity, a water tank, and a hose body; the primary function is to combat structural and associated fires;

Y. shall means a mandatory requirement;

Z. should means a recommendation or that which is advised;

AA. SFMO means the state fire marshal's office;

BB. substation means a structure owned or leased by the local government that provides adequate protection for all apparatus designated to respond from the structure; the structure should house at least one apparatus that meets the general criteria of an initial attack or pumper apparatus; the structure may or may not include separate interior rooms, such as offices, classrooms, and quarters;

CC. trainee means a member of a fire department that is working towards being recognized as competent in a given fire department position; training may be through an academy, conducted by the department, on the job, or by any other means that ensures the trainee can complete the appropriate tasks;

DD. wildland fire apparatus means a fire service apparatus that meets the general requirements of the applicable NFPA standard and is equipped with a pump having a capacity between 20 gpm and 250 gpm, a water tank, and equipment whose primary purpose is to combat vegetation fires, and to support associated fire department operations.