Tooley gave his presentation on the fire at the City Commission’s June 24 meeting.
“We should have cleared out the underbrush owned by the city,” Tooley said, pointing to the area around Cuchillo Bridge on the hand-drawn map. “This is a flooding and fire hazard. The Rodeo Arena also needs clearing out. This shouldn’t have happened.”
Tooley said the underbrush allowed the fire to jump and spread and asked the City Commission to work on clearing City-owned land as well as enforcing City Code to make other governmental-property owners and private property owners clear out underbrush.
Before the City Commission could respond, Madrid refuted Tooley’s statements, claiming the City could have done nothing to prevent the fire. “The fire was within City limits but it was not on City property,” Madrid said.
Emergency responders, Madrid said, met for a “debriefing, and the only thing that could have been done better was communications.”
City Commissioners limited their comments to praising the community for coming together to fight the fire.