Tempe honors Hispanic firefighters from the San Pablo community with commemorative patch

As a part of Hispanic Heritage Month, the city of Tempe is putting a spotlight on volunteer firefighters from the San Pablo community.

The Hispanic settlement at the base of Hayden Butte was practically erased by the 1950s.

Darrell Duty is interim chief of Tempe Fire Medical Rescue. He says current members of the Tempe Fire Department can wear a special hat with a patch honoring those early firefighters.

“We wanted to do something tangible that the community could see that we could do for our members as well. And so we had the idea of creating a custom hat that they can wear on duty for the month of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is Sept. 15 to Oct. 15," he said.

Cresencio “Chris” Sigala served as captain and was later promoted to assistant fire chief.

“He was a notable figure in many ways in early Tempe who we don't hear that much about," said Jared Smith of the Tempe History Museum.

Duty says the volunteers came from their society.

“They were shopkeepers. They were, you know, regular people from the community that already had other jobs that were willing to step up," Duty said.

Proceeds will support firefighter recruitment efforts.