For years, the brave men of the Chapala Fire Department were largely ignored by the local community, which has been blissfully unaware of the difficult conditions they are forced to labor under.
Much is now changing, thanks in large part to the efforts of local organizations and their networks that extend into the United States.
The Rotary Club of Ajijic, in cooperation with its California sister club, Playa Venice Sunrise, and Roger Rubio of the Los Angeles Fire Department, recently presented the Chapala Fire Department with tools and fire-retardant personal safety gear including jackets, pants, shirts and hoods. The donations are valued at more than 10,000 dollars.
Rubio, a trained paramedic and firefighter who flew down to Guadalajara with more than 50 pieces of protective gear, is an energetic and charismatic man.
Born in Mexico, Rubio moved to California at age 18. His enthusiasm is contagious and by the end of the first day, the bilingual firefighter was training the local Chapala crew in the use of the protective gear. He later gave classes to firefighters in Zapopan.
Rubio expressed his dismay at the condition of the equipment and uniforms currently in use at lakeside.
“With boots held together with duct tape and dented helmets, and worn out equipment, these guys’ response efficiency is severely hampered. They can’t rescue boaters because the engine on the rescue boat isn’t functional. Crucial time is lost when they answer calls for serious car accidents because their Jaws of Life doesn’t work. They have to spend valuable time cutting victims from the wreckage. This is a great team of guys, but their equipment is out of date, worn out and damaged. That limits their ability to help save lives and property. They really do need help, and a lot of it.”
Situation in Chapala
With this kind of substandard equipment and resources, these men have to respond to 350 calls a year, and cover 385 square kilometers of the Lakeside region.
However, their heroic deeds have always received little recognition. The 16 paid firefighters get minimal wages. They have limited training and experience. The municipality has no budget for equipment.
One would wonder whether these guys have any motivation at all to work as a firefighter. Their “quarters” resemble more a jail than an environment for resting and sleeping. Inside, it is essentially an empty shell. Nothing on the walls, no books or magazines, and “easy” chairs that they have collected from the garbage. The same goes for their beds, picked up from the side of the road or the town dump, and tied together with string and rope. The beds have no proper bases, just a couple of slats, that’s all. Some are used as bunk beds, and the occupant of any one could easily fall through in the night onto the person below.
In the dormitory it can get as cold as five degrees Celsius during the winter. There are no heaters for when it is cold, and no fans for when it is hot. The “kitchen” is a corner with a sink. Needless to say, there are no pans, plates, or cutlery either. The showers are without ventilation and shower heads.
There is no protection at the top of the staircase, no railing, only a yellow ribbon as a warning for the danger area. Windows badly need replacing.
The firefighter’s plea for help had gone unheeded for a long time, Open Houses were held, but barely attended. Local fundraisers hardly brought in anything. Blissfully unaware, the community carried on thinking that all the firefighters had do was to put out a couple of wild-land fires and pick up a snake or two.
Unsung heroes no more
Unsung heroes until last year, when the Rotary Club of Ajijic stepped up and started a Firefighters Project. The club reached out to government officials and helped heighten awareness for the needs of the department within the community that has now resulted in a large network. On November 16, 2013, an Open House was held for the public. On December 4, a holiday show “Let’s Do It Again” was put on by Mac Morrison and his wife, Barbara Clippinger. The event raised more than 35,000 pesos, which was donated to the Rotary Club of Ajijic and presented to the Fire Department in December 2013.
Since then a tremendous amount of work has been accomplished behind the scenes. A relationship was established with the Puerto Vallarta branch of Firefighters Crossing Borders, a U.S. based non-profit organization. In close contact with the Rotary Club of Ajijic, they developed a master plan. Their involvement includes help with identifying and inspecting outdated equipment that has been used only lightly and moderately; and then assisting in getting it across the border from the United States into Mexico and delivered to Chapala. Past efforts by Rotary to bring donated trucks and equipment from up north into the Mexico had failed. The equipment was refused entry at the border, and subsequently “disappeared”.
Meanwhile the Rotary club of Playa Venice Sunrise in Los Angeles, California, has become a huge supporter of the project, which in turn resulted in the Los Angeles Fire Department getting involved. The Shriners, too, became interested and are heavily involved, as is the Canadian Legion. The network is large, and is growing.
To begin equipping the fire department with basic necessities, earlier this year it was given new boots, helmets, and long-sleeved T-shirts to wear when putting out bush fires. There were also donations of a generator, blankets, a couch, etcetera. In addition, the Chapala municipality and the Rotary Club of Ajijic sent ten Chapala firefighters on a basic training course in Nuevo Vallarta.
The project is a huge one, because the firefighters need everything from boots, protective clothing, beds, mattresses, bedding, plates, pots and pans, new radio gear, building renovation, and all the way up to firefighting tools and equipment, including trucks and an ambulance.