|
John Kitchen- After serving his country for twenty years as a member of the United States Armed Forces, Fire Chief John Kitchen retired from the US Marines and began a second career as a firefighter. He earned his Firefighter Certification in Arizona, and served as Fire Chief at the Mesa de Caballo Volunteer Fire Department in Payson, AZ. After moving to the Espaņola Valley in 1996, John served with the Tesuque and Chimayo Volunteer Fire Departments, and the NM State Police 911 Emergency Dispatch Center. He joined Espaņolas Department of Public Safety as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher before joining the Fire/Rescue Department in 2000. In 2001, he was promoted to Lieutenant. He was promoted to Fire Chief in 2006. In addition to his Firefighter I & II Certifications, John holds a Master of Science Degree in Fire Science, a BA in Business Administration, certifications as a Fire Officer, an EMT, Fire Inspector, Fire Instructor, and a Hazardous Materials Technician and Instructor. He also serves as an Adjunct Instructor at the New Mexico State Firefighters Academy.
The Espaņola DPS Fire/Rescue Department became a paid department in 1998, initially hiring 5 full-time firefighters. Since that time, we have grown to thirteen full-time paid firefighters manning three 48-hour shifts of four people each. This small, but highly trained department serves a population of approximately 10,000 and requires all firefighters to be Emergency Medical Technicians to the Basic level and to the Intermediate level by their third year of employment. All but three personnel are trained as Hazardous Materials Technicians, with one a Hazmat Specialist. Nine members are Building Fire Inspectors and six are Fire Instructor I certified.
Every year, several members are invited to the New Mexico State Firefighters Academy as guest instructors, during the Academy's fire school sessions. This additional training has broadened the DPS Fire/Rescue Departments ability to share its knowledge with its outlying departments, making it more affordable to those departments to get vital training locally. All members of the department are also certified as Wildland Firefighter I and qualified up to the Engine Boss certification. Recent wildfires have allowed the State of New Mexico to rely on us to provide vital manpower and equipment to statewide areas during wildfire season. Currently, our manning has been supplemented with dedicated volunteers and mutual aid departments from the local areas.
The department has three Class A engines, one 75 foot aerial, two type 6 brush trucks, a 1,500 gallon water tender, a rescue, and a command vehicle located over three stations, one of which is manned at all times and a second manned during the day. The third building is for vehicle and additional equipment storage only.
|
