A year and a half after a gas explosion destroyed the Brazos Canyon Fire Station, killing retired fire chief Michael Hayes, the Department has opened a new station.
The Michael J. Hayes Memorial Fire Station was christened with a ceremonial “wet-down” July 4 by volunteers from the Chamita, La Mesilla, Tierra Amarilla and Brazos Canyon fire departments.
“There were a few delays but we’re back on track,” Brazos Canyon Fire Chief T.J. Allard said.
Over 150 people gathered in front of the two-bay, 2,400 square-foot fire station as Rev. Clement Niggel christened the Department and building.
New Mexico Military Order of the Purple Heart Program Coordinator Ben Tafoya and Order Commander Peter Comstock presented Hayes’ widow, Ramona, with a plaque honoring her husband’s service.
Hayes was 64 and had been retired just three days when Feb. 19, 2008, he visited the station the day of the explosion.
Construction of a new station cost the County $592,580 because it was uninsured (see sidebar) and included a $13,712 County-approved change order altering the construction plan’s electrical system, lighting and water heater designs, County documents show.
Part-time Brazos Canyon resident Elizabeth Lujan lives less than a quarter mile up-canyon from the new station.
“This canyon has a high fire hazard,” Lujan said. “For me, the station represents the community coming together for safety. It’s also a special day because of what happened here. We lost somebody very, very special to the community. I knew chief Hayes. Most of us did. It’s a small community.”
Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Deputy Marvin Mercure was the first on the scene after the explosion.
“I was out here serving papers just 20 minutes before,” Mercure said. “I got back to the office in Tierra Amarilla and got the call. There was snow on the ground so it took me maybe 20 minutes, if that, to get back up here. When you get a call like that it’s just a matter of getting here as fast as you can. I saw the debris all over and the first thing that went through my mind was, dear lord, I hope nobody was in there.”
Ramona Hayes declined to comment for this story. She has filed suit against the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative and the County for the propane gas leak that is believed to have caused the explosion.
Allard was first elected fire chief just days before the station blew up. He faced a wave of resignations by full-time area residents before his Feb. 21, 2009, re-election. Eighteen volunteers resigned, some of them citing dissatisfaction with Allard’s “part time” status as a Brazos Canyon resident. Allard lives in Albuquerque on weekdays.
The Department now has 19 volunteers who are year-round canyon residents and 34 volunteers in all, Allard said July 4.
Department Secretary Catherine Praisewater drew good-natured laughter from the crowd with an inadvertent reference to the Department’s infighting when she introduced Allard to the podium.
“When he’s not up here fighting firefighters — ah, I mean fighting fires,” Praisewater began. “He’s, he’s an electrical engineer at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque.