Belen fire chief Charles Cox retires after 60 years of service

Belen Fire Chief Charles Cox will retire June 30 after more than 60 years in the fire service, ending a run that spanned more than 14 years with Belen Fire & Rescue. Cox is 76 and only weeks from his 77th birthday.

His time with the department covered nearly every side of the job. Cox served as a volunteer, fire marshal, training officer and, for the last three years, chief. That span gave him a rare familiarity with Belen’s emergency calls and the people behind them, from the roads and structures crews know by heart to the volunteer culture that has long helped carry local fire protection.

For Belen, a smaller city where fire and rescue work depends heavily on public trust, the retirement is more than a personnel change. Cox has carried decades of institutional memory into one of the city’s most visible public-safety roles, and that experience does not transfer automatically when a chief steps away.

The practical question now is who will carry forward the training standards, leadership style and day-to-day judgment Cox brought to the department. His departure puts a spotlight on succession and staffing depth inside Belen Fire & Rescue, where the next chief will need to know not just the procedures, but the local hazards, the community’s expectations and the rhythm of responding in a city like Belen.

Cox’s retirement also marks the end of a long era of continuity for a department that has relied on his presence across multiple roles. After June 30, the challenge will be preserving that accumulated knowledge while keeping emergency response steady and training consistent for the next generation of local responders.