A raging fire destroyed the second story living quarters built above a centrally located Ajijic stationery store on the evening of Saturday, August 17. The owner of the property, identified as Maria de Jesus Ramos Romero reportedly sustained first degree burns on her hands and arms while attempting to quell the flames before a neighbor came to her rescue.
Chapala fire department chief Arturo Rivera Mexicano told the Reporter that the conflagration caused severe structural damages to the upper level of the building, measuring approximately 60 square meters, in addition to burning up all the furnishings and personal belongings, including two flat screen televisions, two computers, three beds, a bookcase and other wood furniture.
Chapala police, firefighters and Red Cross first responders raced to the scene, followed promptly by a team of four firemen from Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos and another six from Jocotepec.They discovered that steel roof beams and metal window casings became twisted out of shape due to the heat of the fire, causing perilous buckling of the boveda roof and brick walls, as well as deep cracks in the ceiling dividing the upper and lower levels. The ground floor business outlet and its highly flammable merchandise were largely unharmed.
Rivera said the exact cause of the fire has not been determined, although an electrical short circuit is suspected. Damages have been tentatively valued at 300,000 pesos. Additional losses estimated at 700,000 pesos were prevented by the intervention of the firefighters.
The gravity of the incident put a fine point on the financial and material deficiencies under which Chapala’s Civil Protection and Firefighters Unit is forced to operate.
Rivera explains that his men did not have the vehicles needed to properly suffocate the fire, and were able to do little other than use hand held extinguishers to prevent the explosion of two propane gas tanks on the property until firemen from neighboring communities arrived.
A copy of his daily report to city hall on the date of the event shows that only one pickup truck out of 12 vehicles listed on the department’s motor fleet inventory was in adequate working order. One of the pumper fire trucks was operating with leaks and other defects, the other pumper truck has no motor. One truck was being serviced at the city mechanic’s shop. Two others were listed broken down or not apt for service.
A four-wheel all terrain scooter was running with a defective battery, a second scooter and four other vehicles have been permanently put out of commission as junk. The department’s rescue boat is waylaid for multiple repairs.
And the firemen also lack suitable protective gear and air tanks to safely carry out their duties.
Rivera estimates it will cost around a million pesos to get the department back in ship shape, but he has little hope that the city government will be able to cough up anywhere near that amount in the foreseeable future.
The fire chief has organized two fund-raising events over the past year which due to slack public support netted less than 13,000 pesos. That was only enough to supply the firemen with day-to-day uniforms, on order and due for arrival this week, perhaps just in time for the August 22 commemoration of Fireman’s Day.
For the first time in the 15 year history there were no plans for a celebration of the day, other than a thanksgiving mass at Chapala’s San Francisco Church. It would be no surprise if the firemen marked the occasion by raising prayers to Saint Jude, known as the patron of lost causes.
Under all those circumstances it is understandable that morale at Fire Department seems to be at an all time low.