The First Responder Spotlight is a monthly column submitted by the Sandoval County Optimists Club.
The First Responder Spotlight is on Lt. Tim Isaacs of the Town of the Bernalillo Fire Department. Isaacs has been with the department for 6½ years as a firefighter and EMT, and has been a lieutenant for 1½ years. Isaacs started as a volunteer with the county department in 2015, and prior to working for the fire department, he was a teacher at the Algodones and Placitas elementary schools for 12 years.
Moving with his family from Houston at age 6, Isaacs has lived in the Albuquerque/Rio Rancho area since. He and his wife have been married for 20 years, and have two children and an adopted niece. He graduated from Eastern New Mexico University with a degree in broadcast journalism production. Isaacs says he would like to become a public information officer while serving in his current position as wildland services coordinator for the department.
Isaacs has a passion for the wildland program and was instrumental in getting it up and running. While most of the calls to battle wildfires come for help within the state, town crews have also been dispatched to fires in California and Montana.
He says he is enthusiastic about the positive advancements pushed by Fire Chief Mike Legendre to benefit the residents of the community. Lower fire insurance costs can be achieved as the department logs in the training and equipment efforts of the department to bring the insurance rating up from a 5 to a 2. Residents may notice that the fire hydrant caps have been painted different bright colors to reflect the water pressure capacity of the hydrants. Pre-planning for protection of local businesses by the fire department is also a part of the effort to improve the rating.
As a lieutenant, Isaacs often puts in a lot of overtime, but he says he also enjoys outdoor activities, including the restoration of 80s and 90s jet skis for racing on lakes.