The fire chief of Puerto Vallarta is in Calgary. He's giving thanks to our fire department for a generous donation of equipment.
Commander Alfredo Rivas says his community of 300,000 has one fire station and, until recently, very little equipment.
"The situation down there is beyond dire and we've started in Puerto Vallarta but we are also supporting municipalities outside of that," says Christena Callaghan, a Calgarian and founder of Angels for Mexico.
The non-profit foundation approached the Calgary Fire Department and they donated tools like axes, nozzles and protective equipment. "We have sent a fair bit of used protective equipment. Stuff we would declare the end of its useful lifespan which certainly is much higher quality than shorts and t-shirts [which is what Puerto Vallarta fire fighters were using]," says Calgary's Chief Bruce Burrell.
Burrell adds that the department will help its counterparts in Puerta Vallarta get up to a certain standard. "We're also currently gathering additional surplus equipment, as it becomes surplus, and has really no value to us as an organization, sorting through it and anything we believe is of value and will help them out in the future. We're also starting to stockpile some of that again."
For more information about Angels for Mexico you can click on the link above.
