FABENS, TEXAS — Just 10 miles away from El Paso lies Fabens, Texas, a town of about 8,250 living individuals, not including the spirits that are said to roam the streets and buildings of the 91-year-old town. 

Such is the case for the town’s Fire and Rescue Department (FRD) that has been rumored to be haunted by three spirits.   

The fire station lies in the middle of a church, a funeral home, train tracks and the now demolished Fabens Hospital.   

Firefighters at this station reported having experienced paranormal activity in the past, including hearing unfamiliar voices, seeing doors slam when no one’s around and visions of three different shadows in the form of a woman, a man and a child.  

“We’ve had our guys not realize they were chasing after a ghost kid until they went inside the building and found no one,” said David Calzada, the department’s assistant fire chief, who believes the paranormal activity they’ve experienced is a combination of the station’s location, the demolition of the old Fabens Hospital and the possibility that tragedies they witness as first responders follow them back to work.   

The team of firefighters and Paranormal Research Investigators speculate that after the hospital was demolished, all the spirits living inside it transferred to the fire department.   

Paranormal investigators confirmed these speculations in August when they conducted an investigation at the station led by member Ramiro Galvan, in which they identified one of the mysterious shadows to be a female nurse after asking the spirit a series of questions.  

Calzada further confirmed this when he shared with the group of investigators that, in the past, one of his relatives became greatly ill and was hospitalized next door. When the relative recovered, he asked his family to speak with the nurse he had supposedly seen next to his bed. However, the doctors said there was no nurse.   

“I had never mentioned it to anyone,” Calzada said. “So, when (Galvan) mentioned it out of nowhere, that just kind of confirmed everything.”  

The shadow is said to roam the main hallway inside the building that connects the kitchen, dining room and TV area where the firefighters spend most of their time. However, the bay area of the station where the team keeps its trucks and equipment has also been confirmed to be haunted by a member of the team who died in 2017, George Perez.   

Calzada describes Perez as a carefree member of the team who would say that, when he died, he would come back to haunt the place.   

When the team of investigators used a ghost voice box to communicate with the spirit haunting the bay, the machine read, “Who cares?”   

The investigators also experienced right-sided weakness, a sign of a stroke, which is something Perez had suffered multiple times while still alive.   

“I was one of the last people he talked to before he passed away,” Calzada said. “I believe he said it to kind of mess with me or let me know he’s somewhere.”  

The youngest and most active spirit that lives in the station is a child speculated to be 6 or 7 years old. The child has been heard and seen running around the station.   

Lieutenant Oscar Jauregui recalls having clearly seen a boy dressed in a blue shirt, pants and boots. His uncle and three other team members saw the same boy.   

Jauregui said the kid ran to the door of the second building as soon as they noticed him. The members went inside the building to search for the boy, but after looking around, including under and inside the fire trucks, they came out empty-handed.   

“There’s only one way out and it’s the way we came in,” Jauregui said. “I don’t see skin, but I saw the body form; I remember that precisely.”  

Although the boy has been seen roaming mostly outside the station and inside the second building, the paranormal investigators were able to capture a child’s voice saying “coffee,” “water” and “monster” on camera outside the restroom in the main building. They later made the connection that the voice was referring to the drinks the firefighters drink the most at the station, including the Monster energy drinks.   

“Whoever the voice belonged to was basically reflecting or repeating what they see going on,” Galvan said.  

Ever since the August investigation, the firefighters have experienced less activity. However, The Prospector went along with the team of investigators Thursday, Oct. 24, for a follow up investigation at the Fabens Fire and Rescue Department.   

From capturing whispers and unfamiliar noises to feeling bodies and gentle strokes where there was no one, The Prospector’s staff created a short documentary on the station found online at theprospectordaily.com.  

Anahy Diaz may be reached at [email protected]