Volunteer Firefighter Training Facility Gets State Accreditation

By ABC-7 Reporter Daniel Marin

EL PASO, Texas – With El Paso county’s outlying communities growing and growing, so is the need for emergency responders like firefighters. Cue the West Valley Fire Department training facility; recently accredited by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection.

The department has three stations serving Canutillo, Vinton, Westway and Anthony, Texas. With the state accreditation, firefighter trainees at the all-volunteer department will now be certified for jobs at other major departments around the state, including the El Paso Fire Department. …Not bad for volunteer force of 35, including ABC-7’s own Ken Molestina. “You have to desire to do it,” West Valley Assistant Chief Boyd Smith told ABC-7. “We do the training if you’ve got the desire to do it.”

“Doing it” takes 6 months of medical classes, courses and hoses before trainees climb the ranks to full-fledged firefighter. Even when they do, Smith it’s always a learning experience. “You’ll learn things till the day you retire or the day you die,” Smith added.

The West Valley training facility is paid for by taxpayers in the western parts of El Paso county. The department hopes to make the switch to a “paid” fire station within the next five to 10 years.