08302016Tue
Last updateFri, 26 Aug 2016 12pm

Firefighters celebrate their day

The expat community’s support of the Chapala fire department was highlighted during the August 22 commemoration of Mexico’s Dia del Bombero.

Local firefighters marked the date with a full day of activities, beginning with the celebration of a thanksgiving mass at the San Francisco church, followed by a blessing of the company’s newly acquired second-hand pumper truck, purchased last month in California. 

After the service, Bomberos y Protección Civil Director Enrique Perales Miranda delivered a condensed annual report on the fire department’s accomplishments, underlining the significance of cross-border ties. 

Miranda and Chapala Mayor Javier Degollado took advantage of the occasion to express their gratitude to the Lakeside Assistance Group for its success in arranging the importation of used 

equipment donated by fire departments in Canada and the United Sates, which has been distributed in Chapala and a number of other Jalisco communities. 

The group has also fostered an exchange program with Canada’s Firefighters Without Borders.

Perales, Assistant Commander Lorenzo Salazar Guerrero and five other men from the company have just returned home from a four-day training course in California sponsored by the Los Angeles Fire Department and Venice Beach Sunrise Rotary Club. 

After the event the firefighters boarded their fleet for a parade along Avenida Madero. The municipal government later hosted a luncheon for them and their families.   

The Chapala Fire Department was founded in 1998 through an initiative spearheaded by the late Arthur Post and retired California fire chief George Yacos. They lined up the donation and importation of the company’s original firetruck, the big red Mack rig that is still in service almost two decades later. 

Bomberos Chapala currently operates with a staff of 27 employees and 10 volunteers working three shifts.  Over the past two years they have become better equipped with emergency tools and protective turnout gear largely thanks to the efforts of the Lakeside Assistance Group. 

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