By Kevin Buey Headlight Staff
Deming Headlight (New Mexico)
DEMING, NM —Just as lots of folks these days are looking at what the workforce of the future might hold, Edgar Davalos took a look a number of years ago when changes were afoot in his profession.
As a result, he’s now the Deming Fire Chief, having replaced at year’s start longtime Chief Dave Kinman, who retired.
Davalos once worked for The Headlight.
“One of the guys,” Davalos recalls of a fireman of the 1990s, “told me they were going to increase (fire department) manpower from four to six. I knew The Headlight was going to eliminate typewriters for computers, eliminate the offset press.
“I worked 16 years there, six fulltime.”
A member of the Deming High School Class of ’84, Davalos began working at the DFD in 1995, using on-the-job training and classes at the state’s Fire Academy in Socorro to prepare himself for the new profession. He trained for Hazmat and inspection calls and emergency medical certification. He rose through ranks to battalion chief before taking command.
As chief, he spends less time on trucks and ambulance runs, something he hopes to remedy, and has more responsibility for budget and money matters.
Deming has 18 firefighters, and recently hired its first female firefighter Heather Reyes, who is now attending the state academy.
“She fit right in,” Davalos said. “No major hurdles.”
The DFD operates on three shifts, with personnel working 24 hours then having 48 hours off. It differs from department to department, Davalos says.
“This is one of the easiest schedules,” he says.
“We’ve just graduated five paramedics this year. We now have a total of eight.”
Richard Golie, Raul Mercado, Delbert Rivera, Robert Acosta and Kevin Hensley joined Javier Perez, Jesus Magrana and Davalos in the paramedic corps.
“We have an experienced crew here,” Davalos says of personnel other than Reyes having two to 20 years’ experience.”
Deming, as well as the area’s volunteer departments, get lots of calls for grass and brush fires, many times along sides of highways and other roads where a discarded cigarette or even a spark from an 18-wheeler might set brush ablaze. They also respond to traffic accidents, as needed. Thankfully, home fires are few, though not uncommon.
“We have good public awareness and code enforcement,” Davalos says of one reason calls for home fires are low.
He plans to implement fire safety programs to keep calls at a minimum.
Florida Mountain, Sunshine, Columbus and Cook’s Peak volunteer departments and the DFD all have each other’s back when alarms sound. When a fire company rolls, it’s not unusual to see one or even two of the other companies also respond.
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