North Texas firefighters have been hosting fellow first responders from Latin America for a unique experience, learning skills to save lives in their home countries.
The week-long training sessions are taking place at Tarrant County College’s North Campus Public Safety Center in Fort Worth.
The campus partnered with Lone Star Bomberos to host firefighters from Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.
Lone Star Fire Department is a nonprofit started a few years ago by local firefighters, including Arlington Fire Department Deputy Chief Pedro Arevalo.
Mock disaster scenes are featured on TCC’s campus, including a train derailment and a five-story building used for training exercises.
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“TCC is fortunate to have one of the premier fire training centers in the state,” said Steve Keller, the director of TCC’s Public Safety Center.
On Thursday afternoon, firefighters like Jose Gabriel Gonzalez of the Dominican Republic climbed up a building to respond to a simulated emergency: A building has collapsed and at least one person is missing.
Gonzalez is harnessed by instructors and begins to rappel down to an open window where he is to enter and search for any victims.
The building and training, aimed at building teamwork, communication and technical skills, is not readily available back home.
“It’s a great opportunity. The people [are] awesome,” said another participant, Colombian firefighter Camilo Camudio who hopes to “improve techniques and best service to the community.”
Lone Star Bomberos’ mission is to help fire departments in Latin America by providing equipment and training.
Fire departments help the nonprofit by donating gear that is brand new or gently used.
All gear that has been used, is thoroughly tested and given to partner countries where safety regulations are often not as strict as regulations in the U.S., according to Lone Star Bomberos instructor and member Joshua Berkley.
“For us to be able to take our fortune and spread it out and say we know you may not have everything you need to do the job as strongly as you’d like to do it, we have some extra equipment some extra supplies we have some training that we can take that knowledge and spread it so they can protect their citizens and their brothers and sisters and family,” said Berkley who is also an Arlington firefighter.
The relationship is not one-sided.
Berkley says they have learned a lot from their international colleagues.
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“These guys are incredibly impressive with how they problem solve. At the end of the day, being a firefighter is being a problem solver. Some of the guys we’ve met are the best problem solvers I’ve ever met,” he said. “We can watch them come and learn from us and in the process, we’ve learned something we may have never seen before and like: wow, that’s incredible! You’ve done so much with sometimes so little.”
The Mexican state of Jalisco sent seven firefighters to the training.
These first responders rush to crash scenes, as well as urban and industrial fires across the state.
It is not uncommon for these agencies to travel to other countries in Central and South America in times of need.
“My country helped in many emergencies outside Colombia for example the earthquake in Mexico, in Ecuador, Peru, in fires in Chile,” said Camudio.
The first-of-its-kind hands-on training event wraps up on Friday.
Lone Star Bomberos hopes each crew will return to their home countries feeling better equipped to save lives and stay safe.
“I’m so proud right now, like, I can feel it in my heart, I’m so happy for these guys to be here and to give us this opportunity to work with them,” said Berkley.
For more information on Lone Star Bomberos and how to donate, click here for the nonprofit’s Facebook page or here for its Instagram page.
