Honoring Fire Chief and outstanding New Mexico veteran, Leslie Maes
The life of a fire chief is never easy nor predictable. It takes on an even dicier complexion when you’re the fire chief of a rural fire department, say, one like Costilla, New Mexico’s. Costilla is a tiny hamlet with a population just south of 400 in the northcentral part of the state. It borders the Colorado state line.
From its earliest days, Costilla has been a farming and ranching community where, aside from the livestock that dot the vast open spaces, growth is slow and predictable. It’s also a place where, to steal a phrase, ‘everyone knows your name.’ And that’s pretty much been the case since the 1860’s when Costilla became a part of New Mexico. It’s a bit confusing, but there was a time when it was actually a designated part of Colorado.
What is not as predictable in Costilla is when an emergency is called. It could be a house fire or a medical situation, but either way, it’s when its volunteer fire department has to drop everything to respond.
A scheduled interview with Costilla’s new fire chief, Leslie Maes, reflects the nature of the job. A scheduled telephone interview with the chief could not take place because of unanticipated events, the usual ‘gotta go’ calls. But, despite the call to duty, Maes designated another volunteer firefighter, a brother—literally, a brother—to speak for her. “He knows me better than anyone,” Maes texted at the scheduled interview time.
The Maes siblings and their family go back to the earliest days of Costilla. Their family, like so many others that populate rural pockets of New Mexico, are generational ranchers. It is also a family that has answered their country’s call to duty in times of war and peace, said Dennis Maes.
“It’s a history of military service to our country,” said Maes. It continues a long of the family’s military lineage. “It’s one of our core values of service to community and country.” From childhood, he said, the siblings were regularly reminded about the tradition of honoring this commitment.
Maes and his sister are both veterans. Each enlisted at age 17. “My mom had to sign a waiver,” he said, for his sister to join the New Mexico National Guard. His sibling went on to serve in both the reserves and active duty, including a call-up when the state’s Guard unit was activated for the Iraq war. During the conflict, Maes served as a motor transport operator. It’s also when she sustained injuries that ultimately ended her time in the military. Her brother said she was one of the war’s PTSD victims.
Maes returned to Costilla and joined its volunteer fire department, a job that comes with plenty of action but no recompense, that is, no pay. It is completely voluntary. But Maes sister showed the leadership traits—command, organization, and ability to lead—that earned her the respect of her peers and ultimate elevation to fire chief, the sibling said.
“She’s been welcomed,” he said. “She has a strong image and people respect her,” he said, “and not only because of her military (record).” He says she has natural leadership qualities. In fact, her military record reflects a rare war zone field promotion.
While her military disability has forced the Costilla fire chief to put aside her work in the county’s probation department, it has not affected her ability to also serve as the vice president of the board of directors of the Rio Costilla Livestock Association.
Her appointment to the organization’s board is a natural ascendency, Maes said of his sister. “She grew up in a cattle family,” and knows the business that her family has been a part of going back generations.
Asked how long Ms. Maes plans to remain with the volunteer fire-rescue department, her brother said it would be her decision. But it seems that having won her peers’ respect and her love of the job, her stay may go on indefinitely.
Over the course of Ms. Maes dozen years in the military, including a challenging time in Iraq, there was never a question of where she would plant roots. It was always Costilla. “It was home,” said the older Maes sibling.
“Costilla has always been home to us and coming back to this place is always welcoming and comforting. It’s secure and safe.”
Note from the Publisher: In our almost 50 years in the newspaper business LaVozColorado has featured numerous veterans and honored them for their service. The majority, however have always been male; today with much pride we honor Leslie Maes, a female veteran who served in the New Mexico National Guard, returning to her hometown of Costilla, NM to serve
the community via Fire Chief, and in other positions. Leslie hails from the Ortiz and Maes families, long-standing families of the area.
