For firefighter Joaquín Márquez, the USDA Forest Service is a big family
.jpeg "This is his 32nd fire season for Firefighter Joaquín Márquez (right). He is proud of his Hispanic Culture.")
Firefighter Joaquín Márquez is not only proud of his Hispanic culture but he is also one of the hundreds of Latino USDA Forest Service firefighters that have been putting their lives on the line each and every day throughout their career.
“I grew up always wanting to be a firefighter. My godfather was a volunteer there in Fowler, used to chase them around everywhere, you know, because they used to be able to ride on the back of the fire engine back then,” said Márquez, who graduated from Fowler High School in 1989.
“About two weeks after I graduated high school, I got on with the Forest Service as a temporary employee over in Groveland, California,” said the 50-year-old.
And you could say the rest is history for Márquez who has been with the USDA Forest Service ever since.
“This is my 32nd fire season,” said Márquez, who was born in Fresno and raised in Fowler.
Like Márquez, some of these firefighters have actually worked multiple fires this season, working long hours in intense conditions.
“We’ve got some really incredible firefighters out there that are, you know, working on multiple fires, had worked a long season and put their lives on the line,” said Jonathan Groveman, a media spokesman for the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region (Region 5).
“We have a very vibrant Hispanic community in the firefighter community,” Groveman said, adding some of them are firefighter hotshot, the elite of the elite within the firefighter community.
Groveman said the USDA Forest Service has 31 hotshot teams spread out throughout California and they travel all over the state going into the most dangerous situations.
Márquez has 25 years as a hotshot working for the Stanislaus hotshots for nine years and Kings River Hotshots for 16 years. His jobs varied from captain to superintendent.
Márquez just left the superintendent job this January 2021 and took post as District Fire Management Officer, which is considered a chief job on the High Sierra Ranger District.
“My best time fighting fire has been with hotshot crews. I’ve been able to travel all over the country fighting fires, just about every western state in the United States, along with, you know, Florida and Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia,” he said. “Also been to Alaska a few times and been in Canada fighting fires also.”
Márquez is married and has three children: One boy and two girls. The youngest just turned 16 and the other two are out of high school.
He said none of his oldest two children followed his footsteps as they decided to do something in life that would keep them home a little bit more. Márquez’s job kept him away from home a lot.
Márquez had already been a hotshot for about seven years when he got married and his wife was really understanding of what he did for a living.
“This May will be 25 years of marriage for us,” said Márquez, who worked on the Stanislaus National Forest for 12 years and after his first son was born, he and his wife decided to move back to Fowler where he got a job on the Sierra Nation Forest, where he has been since 2001.
“This fire seasons, probably it’s been in line with the last couple that we’ve had. You know, it’s been pretty, pretty tough fire seasons,” said Márquez.
This is Márquez’s first year not being on a hotshot crew.
“So, I’ve still kept busy sending our resources out. Now I’m more of a manager now,” he said adding that he has gone out to Washington for 21 days to help fight a fire as a division chief over there.
“I don’t travel as much as I used to, but our hotshot and ninja crews have been very busy this summer. Usually one gets home, takes a couple of days off and they’re back on the road again,” Márquez said.
Both of his parents were migrant farmworkers, with his dad working in the fields for 45 years until he retired. Márquez saw firsthand the hard work his parents put in for them so their children could have a better life and opportunities.
“To be where I am right now, that is from the work that I picked of my parents. You know how hard they worked to support us growing up. It’s why I think we’ve work so hard to make them proud of us because they just sacrificed a lot,” Márquez said.
One advice Márquez gives to his firefighters is “the first thing you got to do is have s heart. Never give up. Know your weaknesses and improve on them. Work at them.”
“The first battle is knowing what they are and not being afraid to attack them, to always give it your all. It is especially for fighting fire, it’s very physical but it’s also emotional. And you know, with the support of a strong structure, a strong family, you can get through anything together,” Márquez said, adding that in the U.S. Forest Service it’s a family mentality that they all have and strive for. “Everybody’s here for one another all the time.”
María G. Ortiz-Briones: 559-441-6782, @TuValleTuSalud
Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 3 de octubre de 2021, 4:02 p. m. with the headline "For firefighter Joaquín Márquez, the USDA Forest Service is a big family."
