Bernalillo Firefighter Khalen Howard wins 2024 Firefighter of the Year

BERNALILLO — Bernalillo Firefighter and EMT Khalen Howard has been named the 2024 Firefighter of the Year.

“I found out at a training for our new guys; we were doing a two-week orientation for them, and I got the phone call in the middle of that training,” Howard said.

Bernalillo Fire Department’s Fire Chief Mike Legendre nominated Howard for the recognition. Howard was also nominated by the Bernalillo Police Department, Rio Rancho Fire and Rescue, and Sandoval County Fire and Rescue.

“My Chief [Legendre] had told me that he nominated me for it, and we did not expect anything from it. It’s a massive award, and a bunch of people get put in for it,” Howard said.

Howard was awarded at the New Mexico Fire & EMS Expo in Socorro Oct. 26 and was honored at the Oct. 28 Bernalillo town council meeting.

“It means more to the department,” Howard said. “I have never been one for recognition. I have never been one that says, ‘Hey! I do this and I do that.’ I do it because I love it, this is my job.

Howard credits Legendre for his direction and says that this award is a “massive pat on the back for everything that he is doing.”