PHOTOS: For 30 years, Ramon Barreto has worked as a San Francisco firefighter, responding to calls within the city and facing down some of the region’s most challenging wildfires. But by night, he brings that blazing energy into the ring as one of the Bay Area’s most legendary wrestlers: Chicano Flame.
Born in Ensenada, Mexico, Barreto immigrated to the Mission as a child. He’d sit on the floor of his living room watching wrestlers on TV while his grandfather screamed along, rooting for Mexican stars like Mil Mascaras as they crossed over into American wrestling leagues. In the ’80s, Barreto’s family moved to Visitacion Valley, putting them in the shadow of one of the hotbeds of Bay Area wrestling: the Cow Palace. “I’ve got to wrestle in the Cow Palace several times,” says Barreto. “It’s such a great honor, from being a kid in the seats seeing it, to actually being in the ring under the lights and in the dressing rooms. That was a great accomplishment, to go full circle from the seats into the ring.”