Finally, this project jointly sponsored by the club and Firefighters Without Borders Canada has been successfuly completed. 

On January 31st, 2010 a team of 26 members of Firefighters Without Borders Canada returned from a deployment to El Salvador. The team was comprised of fire service members from 6 different BC Fire Departments as well as a contingent of recent graduates from the JusticeInstituteofBCFireAcademy. All members that attended volunteered all of their time and services.

 

Our club member, Brian Hutchinson, was part of the deployment that went to El Salvador.  We'll hear from Brian on this project in the fall.

 

The team spent ten days in El Salvador, providing training to emergency service workers from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and Belize. The training comprised Incident Command, Rapid Intervention Teams, Vehicle Rescue, Technical Rope Rescue and Apparatus Maintenance.

 

Highlights of the deployment included the President of El Salvador Muricio Funes, personally greeting each team member and the final exercise whereby a 5 storey abandoned building was used for a variety of live-fire and rescue simulations. In addition, the members of the Rotary Club of San Salvador Maquilishuat were in attendance at this official ceremony whereby a 105ft Ladder Truck and 2 Fire Engines were presented to the Cuerpo de Bomberos de El Salvador. This vital equipment was made possible by the involvement of the Rotary Club of Vancouver Yaletown and several other supporting BC Rotary Clubs including: Rotary Club of Vancouver Chinatown, Rotary Club of Burnaby, Rotary Club of Steveston, Rotary Womens' Association, Meadow Ridge Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of San Salvador Maquilishuat, along with the Matching Grant through District 5040.

 

Firefighters Without Borders Canada also delivered over 100 sets of fire fighter protective equipment, 2 sets of the Jaws of Life, a consignment of mechanic tools and 80 self contained breathing apparatus.

 

Activities are already underway to continue supporting the regional training projects for Central America. The long-term support of Rotary for the efforts of Firefighters Without Borders Canada can not be understated. This project marks a high point in this relationship, in that through the involvement of the Rotary Club of Vancouver Yaletown Matching Grants were utilized to provide funding to purchase the 2 Fire Engines and carry-out necessary repairs to the Ladder Truck prior to it being donated.