Gene Hackman death: Fire chief recalls shocking first call, ‘I thought I had a little more time than 48 hours’
Fox News
Former Santa Fe Fire Chief Brian Moya recalls unprecedented media attention after Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead on Feb. 26, 2025.
Stephanie Giang-Paunon is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to stephanie.giang@fox.com and on Twitter: @SGiangPaunon.
"Well, personally, I remember the call today, I was driving home from work and I got the call from my assistant chief letting me know about the situation that happened. And I thought I had a little more time than 48 hours," he reflected. "Within that morning, at 5:00 in the morning, I think I had 35 texts and about 40 phone calls from everybody that knew my number. So, it was still probably the fastest three weeks of my life to date, professionally, just dealing with the media, the easiest way to put it."
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