Use of Fire Truck In Funeral Procession Leads to More Trouble for Embattled New Mexico Fire Chief
Some stories never seem to go away… in fact they just seem to get better as time goes on.
And so it is with embattled Velarde, New Mexico Fire Chief Eddie Velarde. You may recall Chief Velarde was arrested last year at a wildland fire by a Rio Arriba County deputy sheriff who sought to take command of the incident. The deputy believed the chief was “out of control”, but Chief Velarde was later exonerated after a trial. The Chief then filed a wrongful arrest and abuse of process suit against the sheriff and the county. He alleges that county officials have a political vendetta against him.
The county turned up the heat on Chief Velarde, suspending him from the fire department on allegations that he falsified documents and used someone else’s social security number. Now comes the latest turn of events.
One of the Velarde Fire Department’s founding members, George Montoya, passed away on April 18, 2012, and his coffin was placed aboard a Velarde engine for the funeral procession on Sunday, April 22, 2012. So what is the big deal?
County officials have responded with outrage that a fire truck would be used in such an irresponsible manner. County Manager Tomas Campos was quoted in the press as saying “Let’s say the coffin fell off the truck” citing possible liability concerns. He continued: “What if someone injured their back while lifting the coffin”. His risk management concerns are truly touching.
Also related to the case: county officials are investigating allegations that Chief Velarde drove the engine. Chief Velarde has denied the allegations and other firefighters support his version of the events. Never the less, the controversy continues as the county is contemplating obtaining a restraining order against Chief Velarde to ensure he does not engage in any further activities. Meanwhile, a hearing on his suspension is scheduled for later this month.
holy crap….
Witch hunt. We use reserve fire truck’s out here all of the time for firefighter’s funerals. They really want this guy gone
Yes, what is the Big Deal about using an Engine.
So the County of Rio Arriba isn’t FDNY, Chicago or Baltimore, but you have admit these “Supervisors” are pretty dumb.
After all, Chicago and Baltimore did this in their Movies and you can see it done in FDNY News Footage.
When someone is on a mission to “get” someone – they can find fault with the least little thing that is done… and find a way to rationalize their “fault-finding” as justified… in this case because of the grave “liability” concerns…
The County folks have some explaining to do for making such a big deal out of what is a very common fire service practice… The one point that is worth noting – caskets being carried on fire trucks is usually reserved for LODD – but even that distinction is not exclusively recognized (many jurisdiction do permit it for non-LODD). However – that was not what the County officials were complaining about. They were upset that a casket was aboard a fire truck AT ALL… not that the honor was used improperly for a non-LODD funeral.
Again – their motives are transparent.
If you lived here in NM you’d understand. This guy is a crook, a liar and a clown. He’s an absolute joke. He needs to be purged. He’s bringing unwanted notoriety and disgrace to our fine community, and as a fellow firefighter in another district, he’s making all of us look bad. He was busted by the local news for using a false SSN on his NM-EMS license because he has a prior felony conviction. Members of “his” department are allowed to respond to calls driving county apparatus while they themselves have suspended licenses for multiple DUI offenses.
Seriously – as a firefighter in New Mexico, I cannot stress enough what a joke this guy is.
M
I am not disagreeing with you – I do not know Chief Velarde – but if he is so bad… if he is such a “crook, a liar and a clown” – then why haven’t the folks in Velarde removed him? And why do the charges against the guy always seem to be… I don’t know … over the top?
Arresting the IC in the middle of a fire? Seriously? Is that how you deal with “crooks, liars and clowns” in NM? If that is normal – the folks in NM might need to rethink things a bit. Personally, I think the police officer who arrested him should be arrested for interfering with a firefighter in the performance of his duties.
And FF DWIs in NM… I’ll leave that one alone but if you search this site you will find Velarde is not alone in NM when it comes to struggling with firefighter DWIs.
But back to my point – isn’t there something more? What kind of clown is he? Did he assault someone, steal money, rape, kidnap, commit arson??? No. He was … a digit off on his SSN. And if he lied (which is not at all clear) he did so in order to … what … fraudulently obtain money? No – so he could have a paramedic license so he could …. help serve people as a volunteer in his community… Am I missing something?
So maybe he is a joke. Maybe he is a clown. Why can’t they find something substantial… and why did all of this come about AFTER he was wrongfully arrested at the fire. He surely must have been a joke and a clown before the fire. Why did the sheriff only take an interest AFTER the wrongful arrest?
Curt, I understand your points. It is a little different if you lived here and had a little more insight to the full background and history of the story here. The Velarde department is run by it’s volunteers. All who seem to be sympathetic to Velarde. I’ve met the man before, he was a nice enough guy to me. Can’t validate this – but I have heard stories otherwise though about him. I won’t put them up here, but they do exist.
His arrest at the wildfire has been thrown out (because of the inaccurate birthday that Velarde provided). I don’t know if that particular deputy had something against Velarde or if he really was overreacting.
The main points that really get us upset here are that:
1) He knowingly lied on his application stating that he had no prior felony convictions. He was federally convicted of stealing public money thru presenting a community apple shed for the town of Velarde, then constructing it on his property and telling everyone else that they couldn’t use it. This alone really alienated Mr. Velarde in the town.
2) He was not just a digit off on his application, he was using a stolen SSN on his application. The SSN is that of a disabled lady in ABQ.
3) Numerous run-ins for double submitting expense reports for travel and training.
3) The way this department behaves – I’m all for the engine used in the funeral – but the rest is embarrassing. Illegible reports, etc. You don’t have a license? You don’t drive. Simple as that. You’ve shown you can be trusted to drive, you don’t.
Thankfully my chief here is extremely professional, and expects the same from us. But the antics of the Velarde department have others questioning similar volunteer departments. Sadly we have really spun off into a lot of reputation management here because our community is now hearing all the negative stuff coming out of Velarde and we’re somehow looked at suspiciously. Like we’re misappropriating county money to do our training, or bilking extra when it is not the case.
What this is opening up is an interesting struggle between the county and the department. The state has stepped back and said they need to figure this out. Expect lots of litigation upcoming over this. I’ll attach a couple links below.
Curt, I hope this sheds some light from another viewpoint on it. When I first heard about it too, I was sympathetic, thinking it was a classic sheriff’s office vs. volunteer department struggle, but the more we hear here, the more it is opening up to some really shady deals and practices. Some old political strife, and some long brewing contentious relationships. I hope you put up more articles as this continues, I do enjoy having this discussion over it.
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2498976.shtml
http://riograndesun.com/articles/2012/05/10/news/doc4faace9b7eeeb779616433.txt
P.S. Glad you provide a forum for us to discuss this in!
Thanks M
Let the truth shine in!!!