Corrales Fire Chief Anthony Martinez has been named the recipient of the VFW Public Servant Award in the firefighter category — recognition that his colleagues say is long overdue for a man who has spent 35 years quietly building one of the most improved fire departments in the state.
According to village officials, Martinez joined the Corrales Fire Department on April 2, 1990, just seven days after his 16th birthday, when the village had a single paid firefighter working weekday business hours. He taught himself to operate every piece of apparatus at the station, including a temperamental 1965 MAC engine that other department members avoided. Former Corrales Fire Chief Jim Fritts recalled that Martinez’s skill with the difficult truck was so valued that Fritts once drove to Martinez’s home to pick him up for a call requiring the MAC as a second engine.
Mayor Fred Hashimoto said the award reflects what many in the village have long known…