Santa Fe fire station to be named in honor of former fire chief, city manager

Dec. 28—The city of Santa Fe's Fire Station No. 7 will be named for former fire chief and city manager Frank DiLuzio — an appropriate tribute for the man who helped secure funding for the station when he led the department, supporters say.

"It's just fitting that it be named after him," said outgoing City Councilor Chris Rivera, a retired fire chief.

The city sought to name the station after someone who made "significant contributions to the community," a qualification DiLuzio had in spades.

DiLuzio, who died from a rare form of cancer in 2021 at age 66, served in the Santa Fe Fire Department for 21 years, the last six as fire chief. He then spent about 18 months as city manager before retiring from the city.

DiLuzio later worked for United Way for several years and as an operations adviser for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Office of Cerro Grande Fire Claims, helping people who had lost their homes in his birthplace of Los Alamos.

He was also active as a volunteer, said his widow, Janet DiLuzio, serving at Kitchen Angels and spending eight years on the board of what was then known as St. Vincent Hospital.

He lobbied to get legislation passed in New Mexico that would include firefighters in presumptive disability laws and ensure their treatment would be covered by workers' compensation. The law passed in 2009, and he became one of the first firefighters in the state to benefit from its protections when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2012.

Janet DiLuzio said the family is grateful he is being recognized as the fire station's namesake, and she is especially happy for his two adult daughters.

"We're all honored," she said.

The city opened nominations for the name of the station on Richards Avenue in July and received 38 submissions — including for the pope — Fire Chief Brian Moya said.

The Public Safety Committee selected three finalists from the names that met the criteria and presented DiLuzio as its top choice to the City Council. The council unanimously approved a resolution to name the station in his honor at its Dec. 13 meeting.

Rivera said DiLuzio "easily rose to the top." (His Holiness did not qualify because he was never a resident of Santa Fe County.)

The other two finalists were former battalion chief Clyde Carter and Wendy Wagner, the department's first female paramedic, who was killed in a 1997 carjacking.

DiLuzio was nominated by William Purtymun, a former Santa Fe firefighter and retired emergency manager at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

In his application, Purtymun said he and DiLuzio were hired by the department the same year, and DiLuzio inspired him to go to paramedic school, as he inspired many others to pursue their passions.

"I believe that Frank DiLuzio encouraged many people to achieve their best and inspired them to serve their communities," he wrote.

Rivera, who served the fire department for 23 years, said DiLuzio laid a lot of the groundwork for the paramedics and emergency medical technicians. He was the fire department's first paramedic after it took over emergency management services from a private company, and as an EMS instructor taught many first responders throughout his career, including Rivera.

"He just did so many things and was impactful in so many lives," Rivera said.

Janet DiLuzio said her husband's work was driven by the desire to make a difference.

"I think he knew that working with people as a paramedic, you're making a difference in their lives," she said.

He was also deeply committed to the fire department and did a lot of work to help professionalize it, she said, adding about half the firefighters were volunteers when he was hired in 1979.

"It was so important to him to do what he felt would always grow the department and make it better," she said.

Moya, who was not involved in the nomination process, said DiLuzio was a humble man who helped bring the Santa Fe Fire Department "into the 21st century."

The department will form an internal committee to determine how DiLuzio's name will be displayed at the station and hopes to have a ceremony in the spring, he said.