Aspiring firefighter gets a taste of what it's like Albuquerque New Mexico

Death is certainly part of life, but for Sandoval County firefighters, it’s also part of the job.That’s something Dezirae Esquibel, who just turned 21, has already learned. She is living in a dormitory-style room at Station 21 near Bernalillo, across from Santa Ana Star Casino, stands just over 5 feet tall, weighs in at 115 pounds and seems to always wear a bright, enthusiastic grin.Esquibel’s bubbly personality belies the sometimes-grim career she has chosen, though.She’s among the first to enter a firefighter residency program at the Sandoval County Fire Department. In the new program, resident firefighters are eligible for a stipend, trained by the department and provided health coverage for on-duty injury or illnesses and a life insurance policy.For their year in the program, the residents must be enrolled in a college fire science or emergency medical service degree program, which must be approved by the fire chief, and maintain at least 12 credits a semester and at least a 2.5 grade-point average.And they learn what it really takes to be a firefighter.Esquibel is only about a month into the program, but she has already gone out on a few rough calls. They’re the kinds of calls that Shannon Farrell, a paramedic/firefighter who is helping with Esquibel’s training, said you just can’t predict, especially when it comes to a trainee’s reaction.The most intense call Esquibel said she has gone on happened Sept. 26, when a man was killed in a traffic accident in Bernalillo near US 550 and NM 313. A telephone pole was pulled down on the man, who was in a pickup truck. He most likely was killed instantly, according to Farrell.Esquibel kept her emotions in check at the scene, though.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” she said. “You feel sorry for the person, but you’ve got to make sure everything else is safe. … The career staff, they’re there to teach us. They’ve gone through stuff like that before.”That’s when Esquibel showed she has what it takes to do the things a firefighter must do, Farrell said.“She handled it pretty well. It’s not easy,” Farrell said. “You have to be able to function and do your job. … I can’t tell you how much stuff I’ve seen over the years. It’s OK to cry occasionally. It’s OK to call the chaplain and get it out.”Farrell said one of her worst calls happened just after her father died. She was called to an accident, where she had to do CPR on a man. He was already dead, she said. The man was her father’s age.Although she was able to keep it together at the time, Farrell said she broke down afterward. She said she sees similar fortitude in Esquibel.“It’s obvious to me that she’s able to see this stuff and be OK,” Farrell said.Esquibel said she has wanted to be a firefighter since she was a little girl, growing up next to a Bernalillo County fire station in the North Valley.When she told her friends about her dreams of being a firefighter, they’d tell her she couldn’t because she’s a girl.While it’s certainly not true a woman can’t be a firefighter, Farrell said being physically smaller is often a challenge.For example, to pull out one of the stops on the fire truck’s pump — which most firefighters can operate from a standing position on the ground — Esquibel has to climb onto the running boards, grip the lever and lean back, using leverage and her body weight to pull out the lever.Farrell talks to Esquibel a lot about how to use leverage and work the firefighting equipment, or even drag someone from a fire.And Esquibel is bulking up, she said. She’s on a high-calorie diet and is doing a lot of running to strengthen the all-important leg muscles.In addition to training at the station and going out on calls, Esquibel is also taking firefighting classes at Central New Mexico Community College. And it is hard to imagine someone who puts in more hours or is more enthusiastic about their chosen career.She used the word “awesome” every time she was asked to describe the training she was getting at the station. On her 21st birthday she played a victim and was moved out of a smoke-filled room.Wouldn’t she rather be hitting the bars with friends?“No. It was awesome,” she said. “You have your whole life to (go to bars).”Farrell said Esquibel couldn’t have been happier to take part in the training exercises.“She was just beaming afterwards, she was so excited,” Farrell said.