Nazih Hazime ended his seven-year run as fire chief of the Verde Valley Fire District in September. Interim control of the district was given to Assistant Chief Joe Moore, who had been fire chief of the Clarkdale Fire District until Clarkdale merged with VVFD in 2016. On Nov. 29, the VVFD board unanimously voted to appoint Moore to the permanent position as fire chief.
“Chief Moore has years of experience as a fire chief and he has served the district well as assistant chief and interim chief,” Board Chairman Bob Eddingfield said in a press release. The release went on to say that the board “has been very satisfied with his service as assistant chief and interim chief and had no reservations about his ability,” and that “making the appointment to fire chief, sooner than was originally planned, allows Chief Moore to continue to move the district forward; rather than sitting in ‘status quo’ as the interim chief.”
“I’m excited about the future of Verde Valley Fire,” Moore said of his appointment. “I’m excited to be given the opportunity to help give some guidance to that going forward. I just feel absolutely blessed. And I’m ready.”
Moore was born in Sun Valley, Idaho, but moved to Aguila with his father at an early age.
He is a graduate of Yavapai College and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Operation: Desert Storm.
He worked construction in the Verde Valley when he came back, but ended up in a career change after his children got involved in motocross. He helped to get the now-defunct Verde Valley Motorplex built.
“That’s how I ended up getting into service,” Moore said. “I was paying EMTs to cover the races in case somebody got hurt, and I saw it as an opportunity where I could either help or reduce the costs by becoming an EMT myself.”
What Moore thought was a simple EMT class at YC ended up changing everything that came after- wards. Dave Ahern of the Sedona Fire District met Moore through the class and convinced him to take a job with a fire district, which he did in 1997 with Cornville-Page Springs, until it merged with the Verde Rural Fire District to form the current VVFD.
Even after he got pulled into the world of fire fighting, Moore got pulled out of it one more time when he and his wife were offered a chance to work for Georgia Frontiere, owner of the St. Louis Rams, as personal assistants and safety officers; Moore’s wife Kim had gotten to know Frontiere when she worked as her stylist when Frontiere visited Sedona. After nine months, the Moores found themselves returning to the Verde Valley, and a life in public service.
“My wife and I realized we were really more built to serve many than serve few,” Moore said.
Moore’s philosophy of public service is clear. In a public place, it becomes hard for him to get through more than a few sentences without someone walking over to shake his hand or give him regards. He takes pride in already being known in the community, as well as getting support from VVFD staff.
Moore sees himself as a part of the team within VVFD. He has done numerous jobs throughout his career in fire districts, from paramedic, to lieu- tenant, to firefighter, to fire inspector. As the chief of the Clarkdale Fire District before the merger in 2016, Moore saw his role as finding a way to integrate
his team with the larger one, and saw taking his own transition from chief to assistant chief in stride.
“I’m here to serve the community, and they’re the most important thing,” Moore said. “I’m only here because of them — they didn’t show up here because there was already a fire department. And when it makes the most sense to bring two organizations together, some of the biggest challenges you have are pride and ego. And if you’re going to link two organizations together, the truth is, somebody has to drop a bugle. You can’t have two chiefs.”
“So I left my pride and my ego at the door and said, for the betterment of the organization, for the good of the people we serve, it is my pleasure to take a lower position. Me taking a lower position would be better for 21,000 people — 21,000 are far more important than the one.”
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
