Mayor Keller and AFR Interim Chief Gallegos Announce New Fire Marshal
June 7, 2021
Mayor Tim Keller and Albuquerque Fire Rescue Interim Fire Chief Gene Gallegos today announced the appointments of Captain Kris Romero as Interim Fire Marshal/Deputy Chief of the Fire Marshal’s Office and Battalion Chief Nathaniel Meisner as Deputy Chief of Planning and Logistics.
“We’re fortunate to have two outstanding members of the fire service step into these leadership roles. Kris Romero and Nathaniel Meisner are exemplary public servants who have been recognized for their experience, leadership, and performance in the field,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “We look forward to their continued contributions to Albuquerque Fire Rescue and the department’s innovative programs like HEART and ADAPT.”
Kris Romero—Fire Marshal
As the Interim Fire Marshal/Deputy Chief of the Fire Marshal’s Office, Romero will oversee the Fire Inspections Office, ADAPT, Fire Investigations, and Plans Checking.
Interim Marshal Romero was born and raised in Albuquerque and joined Albuquerque Fire Rescue (AFR) in 2003 as part of the 66th Cadet Class. During Romero’s 18-year tenure with Albuquerque Fire Rescue, he spent over 13 years in Emergency Operations, where he served the citizens of Albuquerque at several stations along the Central corridor. In 2010, Romero and his crew were honored by Uniting New Mexicans Against Adult Abuse as their “Outstanding Professional” recipient. In 2013, he was honored by former Fire Chief David Downey for his team’s response to a lightning strike involving a pregnant patient and her partner. In 2014, he was a recipient of the Albuquerque Mayor’s “Friday’s Heroes” for a successful mountain rescue.
Romero has spent the last 5 years as the Captain of Technical Services Division. During his tenure with this division, he has led several new initiatives that have resulted in upgraded phone, radio, and computer technologies and has helped increase the efficiency of numerous procedures and daily operations.
From 2014-2019, Romero was the EMT-Basic Representative for the NM Medical Direction Committee. More recently, Kris was selected to be a member of AFR’s Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) Committee. The CPSE accreditation provides a quality improvement model that promotes the establishment of community-adopted performance targets for AFR.
Nathaniel Meisner—Deputy Chief of Planning and Logistics
Meisner will oversee AFR Logistics, Fiscal Division, Fleet Division, CIP, as well as lead the charge for CPSE accreditation.
A New Mexico native raised in the Albuquerque Area, Nathaniel Meisner has been in the fire service for over 17 years.
Meisner has most recently worked as the Battalion Chief of Fleet Operations for Albuquerque Fire Rescue. He manages the accreditation process, which analyzes all fire department programs and services and developed 5-year strategic plans for AFR. Prior to that, Meisner worked as the Community EMS Captain for the Albuquerque Fire Rescue HEART program, where he developed and helped implement programs to help the most vulnerable populations in the city.
Meisner also served as Albuquerque Fire Rescue Records Division Captain where he managed the report-writing system for the intake of 250,000 fire and emergency medical incident reports annually. He administered documentation, quality assurance, and compliance programs for the department. He also provided extensive data analysis and reporting for effective operational and planning decisions.
Meisner won the 2014 Motorola Solutions Future Leaders Award from the International Association of Fire Chiefs Foundation. He twice received the Albuquerque Mayor’s Hero of the Week Award and was the Captain of the HEART program when it won the Albuquerque Fire Rescue Division of the Year in 2018.