Multiple career paths appealing for new chief

• Timing of a job change seemed right

Beginning his third day on the job, Orlando Arriola was settling in Wednesday as the new Ruidoso fire chief. But as chief, he will be fulfilling multiple roles, including fire marshal and emergency manager. The prospect isn’t daunting, he said. It’s something he’s looked forward to most of his life.

“As a boy, I was torn between a fireman and being a cop, just like a lot of boys,”Arriola, former arson investigator, firefighter and fire marshal with the El Paso Fire Department said. “I would find myself taking the role of both and wondering if it ever would be possible to do both. Not until I got into the fire department and made my way into the fire marshal’s office did I realize, yes, it is possible. I was very proud to earn the certifications as the arson investigator and peace officer, and maintained the certification as a firefighter. I can say I fulfilled the dream.”

Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, most of his large family circle still lives there.

He spent the last 28 years with the El Paso Fire Department, about 10 years in the fire marshal’s office.

“I had the honor to serve every rank from firefighter through officers and deputy chief as fire marshal,” Arriola said. “I moved up the ranks, learned and picked up experience, became educated. I earned master’s degree in public administration with a certificate off that for urban and regional planning. With those credentials came the opportunity to look at what fire service provides to the community from a wide spectrum, (spanning) community outreach and economic development. The greatest thing we do is provide public safety, but we also have a business end. Through the education I’ve been fortunate to obtain, I see that. We have to look at how we serve as a business as well as meet the needs of the community. There are budgets and as in any industry, there are constraints in that budget, and we look at how can provide the best product and services. That’s the challenge.”

Arriola’s father owned an electronics supply business and his mother worked for the federal government. When he graduated from high school, Arriola’s first inclination was to delve into engineering and he attended the University of Texas, El Paso, but still was considering the electronics industry in California.

“Back then, some monetary issues occurred and I needed to get back home,” rethink his steps forward and decide how he would provide a secure future for his wife who he married in 1985, he said. His underlying dream still was law enforcement or firefighting and his return coincided with the El Paso Fire Department’s recruitment effort in 1987.

“I went for it,” Arriola said. “I hadn’t finished school, but I need to get a good job.  I was able to fulfill my dream, but also take care of family.”

Wife Esther, who is with the El Paso school system in library sciences, and Arriola have three children. Their oldest is Naomi, 30 and Orlando Jr. “Tony,” 29, is in his second year with the El Paso Fire Department. “So I have a legacy,” Arriola said. Elijah, 23, is completing his master’s in public administration at UTEP, anticipating work with the federal government. He earned his undergraduate degree in political science with a minor in psychology from Texas Tech.

The chief’s position in Ruidoso just seemed to fit a plan he and his wife roughed out years ago, Arriola said.

“One of our goals was for me to fulfill 28 years with the El Paso department, the benchmark for maxing out on the pension plan,” he said. “I knew with the education I was earning, there would be an opportunity and time for another career. I was happy being fire marshal. It was very challenging.”

He looked forward to work every day and wasn’t really trying to leave, but wanted to expand and extend his experience and knowledge to a new field, Arriola said.

“My wife saw on an email site that the village of Ruidoso was looking for a (fire) chief,” he said. “At some point we wanted to purchase a home here, either as a second home to live full time. She saw the recruitment ad and the timing seemed right.

“I realized the two prospects aligned with what we were planning to do. I applied. I had never looked for a fire chief position, but thought how honorable that would be. I was invited to the assessment center and that’s when I learned a lot more about the village and what they expected as a commitment from their fire chief. I realized the challenge was a good challenge, because it entailed everything I had learned. I thought it was a great opportunity to demonstrate my background to serve another community.”

He saw immediately “we have really good people here as firefighters,” Arriola said. “I’m very fortunate. Anyone coming in as chief would have a great crew to work with.”

One segment of his background that might have given him the edge over other candidates for the position was his work with the fire code in El Paso, Arriola said. In general, the fire code succeeds when an agency works with partners in the community to be more performance based rather than prescriptive, not just opening the book and applying a rule, he said. The code needs to be examined as how it applies to a business in a way that meets the intent, he said.

“In a general sense, every code adopted will always have some kind of burden on new business on existing ones trying to remodel or rehab and now falling under a newer code,” he said. “So you really have to look at the balances. What is the extent of the work being done, reconfiguration, extent of new occupancy coming in. Is it more hazardous than before.  These are the things that always challenge any community, but especially a community that is trying to prosper and is progressive.”

A major change will be shifting from structural fires to wildfires, the predominant threat to an urban wildland interface such as Ruidoso.

“This s a very hazardous region,” he said. “I came from an area where fires are more structural. Fire in an interface has its own challenges. I can see immediately that coordination with other communities, state and federal agencies is key to any of these wild fires.”

Not only is he learning from shadowing Ruidoso’s 19 firefighters, he also jumped into the committee putting together an All Hazards Mitigation Plan for Lincoln County. While he’ll be learning, with a different set of eyes, he also may be able to fill in some of the local blind spots.

As for the condition of the department, its three fire stations and equipment, Arriola said, “You find throughout the fire service and law enforcement, you never have enough people. To meet the national standard, there should be four firefighters per fire unit, but even El Paso could only maintain three.”

Motioning to the department’s ladder truck, he said five firefighters should man that unit, but a department manages with whatever the budget and manpower size. One well-trained firefighter with appropriate equipment can equal three average, he said. He’ll be analyzing how Ruidoso’s firefighters respond to calls and how safely they perform their jobs.

As for his own situation, he looks forward to a triple career and is a strong believer in cross training and everyone “pitching in,” he said. He’s also been impressed that the people he talked to don’t just complain if they see a problem, they offer solutions.