Delivery Driver Santiago Macias Recognized for His Heroism

Chief Benson presenting Santiago with a recognition plaque

Santiago and Chief Benson with the crew that put out the fire, Jon Berdahl, Tim Farrell, and Eric May

Santiago Macias was recently recognized by Boulder Mountain Fire Protection District (BMFPD) for his quick thinking and decisive action when a fire threatened Boulder Heights on December 30, 2021. 

A driver for a local business providing contract transportation services for FedEx Ground, Macias was making deliveries in the Boulder Heights neighborhood that day when he spotted a flaming generator in the area of Peakview Road and Antler Drive. Macias quickly tracked down a BMFPD fire engine that was patrolling the area to alert the crew about the fire and guide them to its location. 

Luckily, the volunteer firefighters—Tim Farrell, Eric May, and Jon Berdahl—were able to extinguish the flames before they took off in the 60-plus mile-per-hour winds that were whipping Boulder County—the same winds that caused the death and devastation wrought by the nearby Marshall Fire. 

BMFPD Chief John Benson presented Macias with a recognition plaque and gift card on March 8, 2022, at a local FedEx Ground facility. “If it hadn’t been for you flagging our team down, we had the potential to lose at least 500 homes, and many lives as well,” Chief Benson said to Macias. “We greatly appreciate what you did, and the Boulder Heights residents are very grateful to you.”

“Thank you all,” Macias said. “I thought about it over and over again, and it definitely could have gotten way worse than it was.” Indeed, as Chief Benson explained, the 911 dispatchers were so busy with the Marshall Fire that calls weren’t getting through, so Macias’ heroism prevented another potential catastrophe.  

Thank you for your support in 2021!

Thank you to everyone who has donated to BMFPD’s Station 2 capital campaign to date. The close of 2021 highlighted our community’s generosity and understanding of how important it is for our fire district to be prepared. BMFPD can’t thank you enough for supporting the critical fundraising efforts. 

During the severe windstorm at the end of December, our firefighters not only helped clear downed trees, rocks, and cables from roads, they helped extinguish a generator fire and worked on traffic incidents in the snow. We also sent two crews to fight the Middle Fork Fire and one crew to the devastating Marshall fire. We’re wishing everyone a happy, safe 2022.

Station 2 Construction and Fundraising Update

The walls of the new Station 2 are rising fast, and so is the amount of funds raised by our community. Thank you to everyone who has already contributed to the Station 2 rebuild campaign. To date, almost 40% of our community has given! Let’s keep the momentum going! Earlier this week you should have received in the mail an update on Station 2 fundraising and construction from Chief Benson and Board President Robert Loveman. If you missed it, click here for the letter and here for the accompanying flyer.

$1 Million Raised, $250,000 To Go!

Thanks to all of you in our great community, we just hit the major milestone of raising $1 million for the new Station 2! We’re in the final fundraising stretch, with $250,000 needed to meet our goal of raising $1.25 million. If you’ve not yet donated — or if you have more in your budget to give — and want to learn more about the new station, you can read about it here and make a donation here.

You’ve Helped Us Raise $800K So Far!

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve already raised $800,000 for the new Station 2! Thank you to everyone who has already donated—we are grateful for your support. If you’ve not yet donated and want to learn more about the new station, you can read about it here and make a donation here.