Residents feel cut off

Portales City Councilor Michael Lucero is concerned about possible delays in emergency services by a railroad crossing that separates residents in the northwest side of town from the city's fire department.

Lucero raised the issued at Tuesday's city council meeting .

Lucero said he heard about this issue from citizens when he was campaigning for the March 6 election.

The newly-elected councilor said the issue was worth looking into even though it had been brought up in the past.

"What if you have a critical patient and you can't cross the railroad tracks?" Lucero asked. "You really don't know where the trains are going to be."

Lucero says he's been a resident of Ward A his whole life. He said the ward's population has been growing and a lot of people are concerned.

"I don't have a solution but we can toss around ideas," he said.

He added that one of his constituents told him about a man who had heart attack and EMS was delayed because of a train, but the man was reached in time.

"I'm new to this, I don't know if we can do anything about it but I just figured it's worth looking into," Lucero said.

City officials and fire personnel said the issue has been discussed for years and though it has presented few problems in the past, they are willing to look at possible solutions with the councilors of those wards.

"To be quite honest at this point, there's not a problem, a problem does not exist," said Portales Fire Department Chief Gary Nuckols. "The concern is the potential of a problem."

Nuckols said he doesn't want to create a problem that does not exist because based on studies done a few years ago, the instances where a delay of EMS has been caused by a train have been few to none.

But Nuckols does acknowledge that the risk is there, which is why he is on board to look at possible solutions with councilors and City Manager Tom Howell.

According to Nuckols, about 30 percent of calls requesting EMS come from across the tracks, based on statistics from five years ago.

Nuckols added that about four to five trains pass through Portales within a 24-hour period but the train that causes the most risk of creating a delay is the one that stops at noon and blocks the crossing, Nuckols said.

"There have been few times we've had to find an alternative crossing," he added.

Though no solutions have been officially discussed yet, Lucero asked about the possibility of manning the substation in his ward full-time.

Nuckols said it would be hard to do so based on low staffing levels. He added that the main fire station on Avenue C has been strategically located.

According to Nuckols, the department's average response time is about four minutes or less within the city limits.

Lucero as well as Ward A councilor Antonio Salguero and Ward D councilor Keith Thomas will also be joining the conversation about this safety concern with Nuckols at a later date.