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For the past 40 years, the Valley Hispanic Bomberos has dedicated its efforts to provide mentorship and outreach to young adults in underserved communities throughout metro Phoenix, paving the way for more Latinos to join firefighting departments.
Born out of the need to see more firefighters reflect the communities they serve, the organization has seen countless members go through its mentorship program and succeed in joining a Valley company.
“And it just doesn’t stop when you come on the job either. Our organization continues. You are a bombero for life,” Greg Morales, president of the organization, told La Voz/The Arizona Republic.
With notable members such as current Phoenix Fire Chief Mike Duran III, Morales said Bomberos members are represented in all ranks of Valley fire departments.
A career path right across the street
Morales grew up across the street from Phoenix Fire Department Station 24, off 43rd and West Virginia Avenue in Maryvale, a west Phoenix community with a majority Latino population.
He witnessed his local firefighters respond to calls countless times, but he never considered he could one day join them as he navigated school in the Isaac Elementary and Phoenix Union High School districts.
Morales got a job with the City of Phoenix driving a garbage truck in 1996, where he worked for five years before considering a different career path.
In 2001, a few friends came to him and said, “hey, the fire department is hiring. Let’s go take this test.” And that was that.
This was when Morales said he was introduced to Bomberos.
“I never even realized it until I was introduced, until I had that person that looked like me and talked like me and said, ‘hey, you can do this job.’ And then the light bulb went off, and I was like, ‘man, I can do this,'” Morales said.
He joined Bomberos in preparation for becoming a firefighter and fell in love with it. By 2006, he was working at a fire department.
Morales said the organization provides mentorship for firefighters from when they first undergo the process to become a firefighter, which takes about five years, to when they’re looking to move up within a company or department.
“If you are a firefighter and you have aspirations to be an engineer, to drive the truck, we give classes and study material to help you get ready for that process, to become a captain, all the way up to becoming a chief,” Morales said.
A 40-year legacy
The organization was officially founded in 1986.
One of the founders of the organization was Bobby Ruiz, former chief of the Peoria Fire-Medical Department, with approximately 200 employees serving some 190,000 residents northwest of Phoenix, since 2012.
Ruiz retired from the department in 2021 after being placed on leave due to an investigation that found he had allowed an employee to spend 12 weeks studying for a test from home, while still on payroll, instead of performing his usual duties.
When Ruiz was a student at Arizona State University, he decided to apply to become a firefighter along with his friend Carlos Costa, who was visiting home one summer from Yale University.
By 1980, when Ruiz was a fire captain in Phoenix, he began to hear conversations about few Latinos, people of color and women in fire departments. According to Ruiz, public information officers at departments would say this was due to the lack of qualified applicants.
In response, Ruiz said he told them, “You don’t know where to look. Let us find you some qualified applicants.”
In 1984, as talks of organizing were sparking, Ruiz said then Phoenix City Councilperson Mary Rose Wilcox went to former Phoenix Fire Chief Alan Brunacini and former Phoenix Assistant Fire Chief Chuck Kime about an arson issue that was plaguing the communities from the I-17 to 35th Avenue and from Buckeye Road to Van Buren Street.
In three months, Ruiz, who was in charge of arson investigations at the time, said the area saw close to 100 fires started at vacant homes, sheds and other similar structures. “It was scaring the heck out of the neighbors,” he said.
Ruiz said he proposed a three-pronged approach to engage the communities where the fires were being started —a majority Latino area.
This involved having Latino firefighters hang posters, pass out flyers and talk to parents and children of those neighborhoods. The second and third parts, according to Ruiz, involved Latino firefighters becoming embedded in neighborhood schools and centers, further building relationships.
The approach involved the entire community, but focused heavily on educating kids, teenagers and gang members on the dangers of playing with fire.
“And so we convinced them (the gang members), ‘hey, are you going to be our friend? Then you’ve got to cut the (expletive) out. Go do something constructive,'” Ruiz said.
“At the end of that period, we were astonished because we were expecting to make some kind of impact, but we weren’t expecting to make the problem go away totally, and it did, just zero. I mean, no fires or nothing in the area,” Ruiz said.
With the momentum of their impact, Ruiz said he and several firefighters including Jesse Adame, Larry De La Cruz, Ray Martinez, Andy Avila and Arnie Barajas, came together to form an organization.
They eventually inspired the city to copy their “Bombero Formula” and create a city employee organization that promotes, develops and inspires Latinos to get into managerial positions.
That organization went on to become the Phoenix Hispanic Network.
A new generation of leaders
Under the guidance of his mentor, then-president Ray Martinez, Morales said he was asked to serve on the Bomberos board as community involvement director in 2007.
He held this position for 15 years before being appointed vice president. He currently serves as the organization’s president.
Having worked in the field for 19 years, Morales gives credit to Bomberos mentors who came before him for helping build a generation of leaders. Now, it’s his turn to do the same.
His nephew and son have followed in his footsteps, going through the mentorship program to become firefighters and sworn members of the organization.
According to the Phoenix Fire Department’s 2023 Gender/Ethnicity Report, Latinos make up about 19% of the Phoenix Fire Department.
Ruiz said he is very proud of the growth of the organization because “it’s important to see somebody who looks like you and sounds like you.”
“You don’t realize how much of an impact you have on someone’s life,” Ruiz said.
How to become a Bombero
Those interested in joining the organization can reach out to Valley Hispanic Bomberos via email (vhb@vhbomberos.og) or on their Facebook and Instagram for more information.
The website also provides additional information on getting involved with the organization.
“Our doors are open. We’re looking for good people to come on. The organizations around the valley are hiring because the valley’s growing, so the opportunity is there,” Morales said.
Have story tips on Latino culture and cuisine in the Valley? Reach La Voz reporter David Ulloa at david.ulloa@gannett.com.
