Canada’s Firemen Without Borders (FWB) is joining forces with a broad spectrum of lakeside service organizations for an ambitious initiative to supply the Chapala fire department and other Jalisco firefighters with desperately needed equipment and safety gear.
Spearheaded by Canadian fireman, FWB liaison and part-time lakeside resident Douglas Scrimgeour, local branches of the Royal Canadian Legion, the American Legion, Rotary Club of Ajijic, and the Chapala Red Cross and individual supporters are getting involved in a long-term project to line up the donation and importation of all sorts of valuable materials that first response outfits in Canada and the United States discard due to obligatory expiration dates.
Scrimgeour has already managed to procure enough gently used firefighting equipment to fill four 40-foot containers, ready for immediate shipment to Mexico. The inventory includes firefighter safety gear ranging from helmets, jackets, pants, and boots to breathing apparatus, and diverse work and rescue paraphernalia such as radios and pagers, water pumps, generators, light bars, hand tools, stretchers and backboards. Based on preliminary pricing figures, railway is being chalked up as the most probable mode of transport.
Leaders of the local organizations have set up an ad hoc committee to address immediate tasks to get the project rolling, such as aligning fine-tuned logistics and funding for transportation costs. Mexican and Canadian government officials are also coming aboard to facilitate red tape procedures and troubleshooting, including representatives of Jalisco’s Office of Foreign Affairs, the Canadian Consulate and Trade Office in Guadalajara and the Chapala municipal government. 
Encouraging news revealed at a September 3 planning meeting was the commitment for a 5,000-dollar contribution to the cause by Cruz Roja International Volunteers Chapala, Inc., a 501(c)3 tax exempt charitable corporation.
Once the initial load makes its way to the Chapala area, the effort will expand to establish a regular supply chain that will continue to benefit Chapala’s fire and civil protection unit and the local Red Cross facility, as well as feed equipment to other first response teams laboring under hardships elsewhere in the lakeshore region and other corners of the state. If the projects prospers as envisioned, fleets of second-hand fire trucks and ambulances may also begin heading this way.
For additional information on the program contact Chapala’s Royal Canadian Legion president John Kelly at Tel. 766-0422, Cell 331-758-0676 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..