Going Beyond the Call of Duty – Firefighters in Mexico
At the heart of every firefighter is the undeniable need to help others within, around, or well beyond their own community.
On January 20 th 2006, 10 Kent Firefighters set out as volunteers to accomplish the humanitarian task of training the first-ever fire department of El Grullo, Mexico. El Grullo, with a population of 25,000, is a sister city of Kent, WA through Sister Cities International (SCI), an organization designed to unite the world one city, town, or village at a time. The firefighters worked with another non-profit organization, TAPFIRE, founded by Kent Fire’s own Battalion Chief, Paul Wright. Chief Wright started TAPFIRE as an organization that partners with other communities living with limited or no fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
“The most important thing to me about the TAPFIRE program is that with just a small amount of support we can help make big things happen,” Wright said. “Throughout Mexico there is little priority on fire and medial services because of the cost associated with them; however, the need is significant.”
Landing in Manzanillo, Mexico the Kent firefighters made their first stop in a small town called Malaque where they witnessed first hand the limited nature of Mexico’s fire service. While eating at a restaurant they saw someone receiving CPR. The firefighters ran to the scene while the local called 0-6-6 which is the emergency number in Mexico. A small pickup truck with two men responded to the scene with a rudimentary first aid kit.
“There was nothing in there that we really needed for a life saving situation,” Captain Kyle Ohashi said. “They loaded him up in the truck but didn’t do anything for him. It was eye opening for us about the system down there.”
Life saving equipment in the United States is subject to strict regulations and expiration dates. Every year equipment is thrown away because it no longer meets these regulations. TAPFIRE accepts this used and sometimes new equipment for use strictly outside the U.S. The equipment’s destination is decided after intensive time and energy goes into studying the needs of the city involved. This can be a long and difficult process.
“You have to be committed in order to work with foreign countries if you want to accomplish anything,” Wright said. “There is a lot that has to be taken care of in the previsits.”
Key to this trip was the City of Kent’s donation of a fire engine through SCI to the new fire department of El Grullo. TAPFIRE was able to put together the additional equipment needed to launch this new fire department. Chief Wright along with former Kent Mayor Jim White drove the engine to El Grullo in November in preparation for this training.
After arriving in El Grullo, the firefighters got right to work training the 18 preselected firefighter recruits with an intensive 10 day fire academy. Classes included ladders & rope rescue, EMS, and specialized Pump Engineer training for five of the recruits. The schedule involved splitting the recruits into concentrated training in three separate classes at any one time with one interpreter in each class from 8:00am to 5:00pm each day. This American style schedule combined with intense lesson plans kept the students on their toes.
“The enthusiasm and perseverance they showed made it clear that this was something they really wanted to do, “Firefighter Noey Ramos said. “We trained in 90 and above degree weather in full bunker gear, and on top of that, some guys actually went to their regular jobs afterwards. There was definitely a commitment on their part.”
One of the largest challenges to the training sessions was the language barrier that existed between the trainers and trainees requiring some to take on dual roles. Firefighter Ramos acted as both an instructor and an interpreter while Recruit John Paul acted as interpreter and student. A third interpreter also assisted.
Three Chief Officers were also selected and trained to take on positions of command in an emergency situation. Chosen separate from the trainees, the three CO’s already occupied positions of leadership within the community.
Kent’s instructors had to keep the training basic and based on the equipment and time constraints they had. There was not enough time or equipment to properly train the recruits to fight fires from the inside a burning building. Although they do have air bottles and self contained breathing apparatus for smoky environments, they do not yet have a compressor to refill them with filtered air. Once the proper equipment is in place, El Grullo firefighters will be ready for the next level of training.
“One of the things we did was try to make them understand that it is going to be hard and they are going to need to study outside this training,” Ramo said. “These guys had to learn this stuff in 10 days. We training five guys to be pump engineers and got to the point that three of them were ready by the time we left. Now it is up to them to get the other two ready.”
After training was over the El Grullo Fire Department made a plan to train twice a week on their own and once a month with the neighboring City of Autlan’s Fire Department in order to hone their new skills while nurturing their partnership with Autlan.
“It is their program now and it is up to them to maintain it,” Wright said.
Along with the many firefighting skills that were taught, some lessons reached beyond.
“We taught them that there is more to being a firefighter than pulling hoses and spraying water. It is about the relationship with the community and being a good person,” Wright said.
The firefighters from the City of Kent donated their own vacation time and paid for their own plane tickets. Their involvement was made possible by the support they received from the families, and as a result, El Grullo, Mexico now has a Fire Department.
“One of the most rewarding things was leaving knowing that we made some kind of difference there in that city’s future,” Firefighter Scott Dellinger said.