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Since 2011, the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade has donated a dozen of its expired sets of bunker gear鈥攈elmets, boots, gloves, jackets and pants鈥攖o a small fire department in Cihuatlan, Mexico.

The connection was made three years ago when Kelly Derksen was vacationing in a condo near Cihuatlan. During his stay, Derksen and his son, who is also a member of the volunteer brigade, were put in contact with the fire department there and had a meeting with its director general.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of people from Jasper who own condos in Playa Grande on Navidad Island, not too far from Cihuatlan,鈥� explained Derksen. 鈥淲hen we first started this, I saw a picture of their equipment, it consisted of two sets of incomplete bunker gear and two [self contained breathing apparatuses] that looked pretty rusty and beat up.

鈥淪o there鈥檚 a lot of things they could use.鈥�

After seeing the department鈥檚 setup, Derksen returned to Jasper and talked to the brigade about donating its old gear.

鈥淲hat happens with the bigger departments in Canada, they send stuff to Mexico. But, mostly the big cities get it, so we鈥檙e pleased we鈥檙e helping out a smaller town.鈥�

In 2011, four expired sets of gear were sent to the department and since then eight more have made the journey.

Although expired in Canadian terms, the gear still has a lot of life in it, said Derksen.

鈥淭he standards here are different than in Mexico, so the stuff we鈥檙e giving them is still fine to use.鈥�

To get the gear down to Cihuatlan, Derksen piles it into hockey bags鈥攖wo complete sets of bunker gear per bag鈥攁nd then he sends it down with whoever鈥檚 heading on vacation.

鈥淭he bags weigh right around 50 pounds and West Jet has been taking them for free, which is nice.鈥�

The last delivery was made in February by Rob Dennison, another of Jasper鈥檚 volunteer firefighters, who was visiting Mexico for a winter vacation.

鈥淚 got a little tour of their fire station,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e saw a lot of our equipment, our gear that we鈥檝e taken down in the past, but they didn鈥檛 have much else.

鈥淲hen they get a call, they jump into a Dodge pickup truck and they drive to a fire and generally they can鈥檛 do anything. They don鈥檛 have a lot of tools, except maybe some shovels with the handles broken and pieced together.

鈥淭hey have really just the one vehicle and a tank that they pull behind their truck with a small pump on it and they can run a little bit of hose off it, but once it鈥檚 done, it鈥檚 done.鈥�

After seeing what the department has to work with, Dennison made a trip to a hardware store and picked up some new shovels, axes and hoses on behalf of the Jasper brigade.

With those tools and the bunker gear, Dennison said the Mexican firefighters will be better equipped to fight wildfires and extract people from vehicles following an accident.

But what the department really needs is a functioning fire truck, and the Jasper brigade is trying to make that happen, as well.

The fire department currently has an old truck sitting unused, and the hope is to get it to Cihuatlan. But that might be easier said than done.

鈥淥ur truck is pretty old. I think it鈥檚 a 鈥�78,鈥� said Derksen. 鈥淚t served us great here in Jasper, but we never went any more than 60 or 70 miles in it.

鈥淚 guess you鈥檇 want to go down with a mechanic. But you also don鈥檛 want to take something down there that鈥檚 going to break down and not be any good to them.鈥�

Derksen said the truck needs some work before it will be roadworthy for such a long haul journey. But the brigade hopes it will be able to get it up to snuff and down to their Mexican counterparts sometime in the near future.

Nicole Veerman
[email protected]