New Mexico fireman Chris Martinez (pictured above) only half-joked a few years ago that he wanted the first baby dropped off at his fire station under a new “safe haven” program. The so-called "baby box" — provided through a nonprofit organization allowing anonymous and safe ways for mothers in crisis to surrender their newborns — had been placed at his Belen Fire Department about four months prior and had never been utilized. Then came Feb. 6, 2024, when a woman’s decision to place her baby with the fire department granted the prayers of Martinez and his wife Janae. Martinez, a lieutenant with the fire department, had responded to a structural fire about 1 a.m. that day two years ago. In the course of fighting the blaze, his gear melted and burned his ears and wrists, requiring him to go to the hospital for treatment. Not long after Martinez returned to the fire station, he was told by another firefighter that a baby might have just been left in the safe haven box, a temperature-controlled unit in a secluded location on the side of the building. The box had a timer that provided about a minute for anyone leaving a newborn to drop of the baby and leave anonymously. Alerted to the new arrival, the firemen opened the box and found a newborn boy turning blue, with his umbilical cord still attached and in obvious distress. The firemen provided oxygen for the baby, warmed him up and took him to a local hospital where he was treated in the neonatal ICU for pneumonia, fluid in his lungs and a brain bleed. The baby had to stay in the hospital for almost two months, and every day Chris and Janae were there making sure he wasn’t alone. The couple had tried for 15 years to have a child, and now they knew in their hearts this baby was going home with them. The couple had just become certified as foster parents, so they were allowed to foster the baby while they went through the adoption process. They named the baby Mikel Martinez and refer to him as “Mikey.” They say his middle name, Gracen, reflects the grace of God, who answered their prayers. The couple says they are now living the life they imaged for themselves decades ago.
