A fifty year old Fire Engine sits under a tree in Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala
I Was Wrong.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that those words don’t often spring to my lips. Borne out over a third of a century of career-required self assurance in the Fire Service, my fall back position is generally one of overwhelming self confidence. After all, the fire ground or the scene of a medical emergency are not places where one can afford to dither. You learn to bet on yourself, your knowledge and your experience.
But yesterday, a group of firefighters from a small, resource poor, Guatemalan Fire Department made me eat my words. With Salsa.
I recently published a picture on social media of an old fire engine under a tree (above) of which I was kind of proud. It was sitting in the yard of a village mechanic, dusty , partially disassembled, weeds growing between its tires.
The Ciudad Vieja Fire STATION. Yes, they live in this old bus. No, I don’t know why Santa’s sleigh is on top.
The firefighters of Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala were touring me around their town and the surrounding villages and wanted to show me what had happened to their only fire engine. They bemoaned the fact that there wasn’t enough money to repair it, even if they could get the parts, and no one had ever even tried to take one apart before, much less repair one.
An “Expert” Opinion
Let’s be clear. This is a mid 1960’s Fire Engine, built by Barton-American, a small company that went out of business in the early 1970’s. The pump on the vehicle (the heart of any fire engine) was built by American Fire Pump, another now-forgotten company whose demise was also 40 years ago. That pump, now 50 years old, had failed catastrophically, been removed from the engine and now lay, disassembled into its myriad components, in the yard. It had clearly been that way for some time.
I took a look at it, decided, in my presumably expert and professional opinion, that this engine was truly a lost cause. It would remain under that tree until its useful parts had all been salvaged and its body slowly rusted away. So I took a couple of pictures. One of those pictures I tried to turn into a small tribute to a formally noble used Fire Engine. Having protected people for a half century, first in an unknown department in the United States and then in Guatemala, it seemed now destined to be forgotten. It was kind of sad.
I titled the picture “Abandoned”.
I Forgot Rule Number One.
When I asked a Guatemalan firefighter what they did when they had no fire engine to fight fire with, he shrugged philosophically and said “We work harder” while pantomiming the motions of the age old bucket brigade. He wasn’t kidding.
It’s easy, coming from a large, progressive fire department in the United States, to assume you know more, can do more and are “better” than your less privileged brethren in the third world. You have the latest and greatest equipment, shiny new apparatus, video training, certifications enough to paper your living room – all the bells and whistles. You have the time and luxury to argue over what stickers to plaster on your helmet, whether or not to put a parade flag on your rig. There is the temptation to be the Lieutenant from Backdraft … “You’re doing it wrong…”
But it just really isn’t the case. The fact is, the average firefighter in Guatemala is tough, resourceful, knowledgeable and as dedicated to the job as anyone, anywhere. There are few among them that I wouldn’t have happily had on my own crew in the States. Yeah, they have a LOT less money. Yeah, their equipment, what little they have of it, is old, used and worn – usually second or third hand from the U.S. – but they take as much pride in their old beat up engines as we do in a brand new half million dollar Peirce. They persevere, adapting to the shortfalls in equipment, water supplies, and personal protection – facing the same hazards we face in the U.S., and a few we don’t. Rule Number One:
“Never Underestimate a Guatemalan Firefighter with a mission…”
So, an hour after my posted photo appears on FaceBook, (and about six weeks after I took the picture) I get a message:
Rebuilding the antique fire pump in Ciudad Vieja
“Hey, Amigo, it’s already back in service”
“What is?” I asked.
“The fire engine. We fixed the pump and it is working perfectly.”
“You must be joking” I replied
“No, I’m not.” He said proudly, “I’ll send you some pictures”
How they managed to do it, I don’t know. But 30,000 people have their fire protection back. The pride of the 8 Compañía CVB fleet, Engine 951, is back in front line service, proudly carrying firefighters once again…and I was wrong.
I’m actually pretty happy about that.
Pride of the Fleet, Engine 951, Ciudad Viejo, Guatemala back in Service.
I would gladly welcome any of those guys on my crew.