Bernalillo County Fire & Rescue is preparing for the 2026 fire season as fire risks increase with rising temperatures in the East Mountains.
Updates, including new cameras and updated maps, are helping the BCFR prepare for the season.
New cameras posted throughout the East Mountains help mitigate fires. The best way to fight fires is to prevent them, BCFR Public Information Officer William Harris said.
The cameras are placed in certain areas throughout the mountains to monitor the fires. They are AI-powered and can notify firefighters of smoke in hard-to-reach areas, saving precious minutes.
“It is definitely a huge advantage that we’re really excited to have,” Harris said. “And when seconds count, we’re going to be able to get out there and really make a difference.”
BCFR takes on more extensive training than some other departments throughout the state, Harris said. Firefighters in the county need to be wildland certified each year.
“It’s more extensive training for wildland fires, and we do that every year,” Harris said.
This comes with new technologies and tactics that are available to BCFR firefighters each year.
The department’s wildland coordinator has also been updating field maps to ensure that new establishments are up-to-date for firefighting operations.
“Our new mapping system for wildfires is leaps and bounds ahead of what we had before,” Harris said. “It’s a really cool time right now.”
Fire seasons have been getting increasingly more worrisome as the climate heats up, Harris said. With higher heat and lower relative humidity, fires can be a lot less predictable and burn much more quickly.
The most important thing for fire safety is prevention, though, he said.
“In a perfect world, there would be no fire department,” Harris said. “We would just have people who teach you. We take our community risk reduction very seriously.”