Fire Chief and Command StaffFire Chief's Office
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| David Sperling | Fire Chief / Fire Marshal | 505-992-3076 | dsperling@santafecountynm.gov |
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Chief Sperling was appointed as Santa Fe County Fire Chief in 2012 after serving as Interim Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief/County Fire Marshal. As Fire Chief he has the responsibility to lead nearly four hundred career and volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel in meeting the mission to provide high quality emergency services to Santa Fe County residents and visitors. He previously served as the Fire Chief for the City of Santa Fe Fire Department from 2002-2006 and has 27 years of experience in fire and EMS. | ||
| Mike Neely | Assistant Chief - Operations Division |
505-992-3079 | mneely@santafecountynm.gov |
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Assistant Chief Neely joined Santa Fe County Fire Department in 1999 after spending 11 years with Albuquerque Ambulance. He attended the first ever joint Santa Fe City / Santa Fe County Fire Academy and entered the field as a Firefighter Paramedic. Over the last several years he has served as a Lieutenant, Battalion Captain and currently Battalion Chief. While at Albuquerque Ambulance, he completed paramedic school in 1990 and went on to serve as a Field Supervisor and eventually Operations Supervisor. Over the last 20 years Battalion Chief Neely has broadened his experience by working as a flight paramedic, emergency room tech, PALS instructor and state test site evaluator. More recently he obtained certification as a hazmat radiological tech/instructor and completed the C.S.T.I. hazmat incident command course. He has also served as IAFF Local 4366 Vice President/President and is a veteran of the United States Marine Corp. | ||
| Steve Moya | Assistant Chief - Administration Division |
505-992-3083 | smoya@santafecountynm.gov |
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Assistant Chief Moya oversees all support services including Finance & Budget, Logistics, Fleet, ISO and Special Projects. He and his staff manage 35 fulltime Program Budgets and have 6-10 Special Project Budgets that vary due to grant awards, bond sales and Commission action. Assistant Chief Moya is a native Santa Fean and has a BS-Business Administration from NMSU and University of Phoenix. His many years of financial administration come from employment in the Finance Department with City of Santa Fe for 21 years. His fire service began in 1991 as a founding member of the Santa Fe County Fire Department Galisteo Fire District in 1991, where he promoted though the ranks including District Chief. He began his career service with SFCFD in 2004 when he was hired to manage the administration and finance sections of this ever growing combination department. |
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| Martin Vigil | Assistant Chief - Director of Emergency Management |
505-992-3072 | mavigil@santafecountynm.gov |
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Assistant Chief Vigil is the Emergency Manager for the County of Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has over 35 years of public safety experience from being a Paramedic, Emergency Medical Services educator, Police Sergeant, and Fire Command Officer in both career and combination fire departments. Assistant Chief Vigil started his career at age 13 as a member of the New Mexico Wing of the Civil Air Patrol and was involved in air search and rescue. He soon became an Emergency Medical Technician and started teaching EMT courses at age 16. At age 19, he became the first Native American Paramedic in the state of New Mexico. In 1998, Assistant Chief Vigil left public safety to pursue a career in critical care nursing, eventually working at the University of New Mexico Hospital in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. He began to take a strong interest in infectious diseases and bioterrorism medical response. He holds significant certifications in the medical management of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive casualties. | ||
| Karl Ehl | Chief - Shift Battalion A | 505-992-3086 | kehl@santafecountynm.gov |
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Battalion Chief Ehl hired on with SFCFD in the summer of 2007 and assumed the duties of Fire Training. He comes with seventeen years experience beginning as a volunteer with the Bernalillo County Fire Department, District 7. After his move to Torrance County in the early ninties, he was hired on as a Lieutenant with the City of Moriarty Fire Department where he worked his way through the ranks of Captain, Assistant Fire Chief and finally serving as the Chief of Department for nine years. Currently, he serves as the Fire Training Captain where he oversees the Cadet Academies-both career and volunteer as well as oversight of fire training programs throughout the county. BC Ehl has extensive involvement and training of several firefighting and leadership courses. His responsibilities also include policy development, logistical support and instruction. | ||
| Tony Ruscetti | Chief - Shift Battalion B | 505-992-3086 | truscetti@santafecountynm.gov |
| Bobby Montoya | Chief - Shift Battalion C | 505-992-3086 | bmontoya@santafecountynm.gov |
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Battalion Chief Montoya joined Santa Fe County Fire Department in 2002 and entered the field as a Firefighter EMT-Intermediate. Over the last several years he has served as a Firefighter Paramedic, Lieutenant, and currently Battalion Chief. He started working at Espanola Ambulance in April 2001 as an Intermediate. He worked there full-time for over two years before switching to PRN status, which he still works currently. Chief Montoya attended Paramedic School in 2006. Over the past ten years, Chief Montoya has continued to add to his experience by training in Rescue Operations, HazMat Operations, Pediatric and Advanced Cardiac Life Support, and various other courses. | ||
| Charlie Velarde | Regional Volunteer Chief | 505-992-3070 | cvelarde@sfcfire.net |
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Regional Chief Velarde served 23 years with Santa Fe County Fire Department starting his volunteer firefighting career in 1980 with La Cienega Volunteer Fire Dept. Starting out as a firefighter and moving up the ranks to District Chief for La Cienega Volunteer Fire Department for 18 yrs and District Chief for Agua Fria Volunteer Fire Department for 3 years, he served as the Vice President of the SF County Fire Chiefs Association. Chief Velarde started his professional firefighting career with the City of Santa Fe Fire Dept in 1987 as a Firefighter Trainee, and promoted throughout his career as Firefighter EMT-B, Fire Engineer, Fire Captain, Battalion Chief and retired as Assistant Fire Chief in 2009. Returning to the County as the Regional Volunteer Chief of the Western Region in 2009, Chief Velarde responds to emergency and non emergency calls in the Agua Fria, La Cienega, Turquoise Trail and Madrid Fire Districts. | ||
Regional Operations - Captains
| Mike Mestas | EMS Captain | 505-992-3075 | mmestas@santafecountynm.gov | ||
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Captain Mestas hired on with SFCFD in the fall of 2008 and assumed the duties of EMS Operations and Training serving under Chief Holland. He comes with over 20 years experience from Albuquerque Fire Department and is credentialed as EMS instructor in ACLS, PALS, BLS and PHTLS. He also serves as the Quality Assurance Officer (CQI) for the department. Since his involvement with county he has affiliated with SF Community College becoming an employee/instructor for the school. He has extensive involvement and training of several EMT Basic, EMT Intermediate, Paramedic classes, and EMT Instructor course for the county as well the annual EMT Combo Refresher classes. | ||||
| VACANT | Training Captain | 505-992-3084 | |||
| Mike Jaffa | Volunteer Recruitment / Retention Captain |
505-992-3087 | mjaffa@santafecountynm.gov | ||
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Captain Jaffa joined the Department in 2008 and is responsible for Recruitment & Retention Programs and serves as the Department's Volunteer Coordinator. Mike has more that 25 years experience in the fire service, having previously served as the Deputy Chief for both the Bernalillo County and the Village of Tijeras Fire Departments. He serves on numerous committees and task forces for the International Association of Fire Chiefs, where he currently is the chairperson for Company Officer Task Force and a co-chair of the Reputation Management committee for the Volunteer and Combination Officers Section. Captain Jaffa is a frequent presenter at Fire Rescue International and other state and regional fire service conferences, covering such topics as: Firehouse Etiquette, Fire Corps Programs, Volunteer & Career Integration, Jr. Firefighter Programs, Leadership Practices, and Recruiting and Retention of Volunteers. | ||||
Fire Prevention and Wildland
| Buster Patty | Fire Prevention Captain | 505-995-6526 | bpatty@santafecountynm.gov |
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Captain Patty started his fire service career in 1979 with the Glorietta Conference Center Fire Department. He left the department in 1989 while holding the position of Department Chief. In 1990 Captain Patty started with the Santa Fe County Fire Department as the first Fire Prevention Officer. He was also a member of the La Cienega Volunteer Fire Department and in 1992 established the Agua Fria Volunteer Fire Department. |
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| Mike Feulner | Wildland Captain | 505-995-6527 | mfeulner@santafecountynm.gov |
| Captain Feulner started with the County in 2006 as a member of the Edgewood Volunteer Fire District as a structural and wildland firefighter. Although he was not an EMT he assisted medical personnel on all medical calls. Captain Feulner served as the EVFD Assistant Chief from January 2011 until June 2012. In 2010, he was hired by the County as a Fire Prevention- Urban Interface Specialist. In 2012 he was hired as the Wildland Division Captain. Captain Feulner is a certified Engine boss, A faller, ICT 4, and teaches wildland classes and refreshers both for the County and outside agencies. | |||
