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For our Guatemala Brothers!
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (AP) - A group of firetrucks and ambulances
donated by local departments head for Guatemala this weekend, where
firefighters from the Central American nation say they are badly
needed.
Nineteen firefighters from Guatemala will leave Central Falls
Sunday with four trucks, an ambulance, the two vans in which they
came, and another used truck for the roughly 5,000-mile journey
home. The trip is expected to take 12 to 13 days.
Four of the men will break off to go to Atlanta, where they are
to pick up two more fire trucks that the commandant and chief of
Guatemala's Volunteer Fire Department Cesar Augusto Gonzalez-Arroyo
has arranged to purchase for $3,000.
Gonzalez-Arroyo said his volunteer company currently has just 55
fire trucks for the 120 fire stations scattered around the country.
There are few aerial trucks - not enough to protect the 90
buildings in Guatemala City with 17 or more floors, Gonzalez-Arroyo
told The Providence Journal.
In the areas outside the capital there are no aerial trucks,
meaning that usually when a fire breaks out, the building burns to
the ground.
"The true reality is that we need these trucks,"
Gonzalez-Arroyo said. "We are very happy to be bringing these
trucks to Guatemala."
The donated equipment includes two ladder trucks and a pumper
truck donated by the city of East Providence, a piece of fire
apparatus from the town of Johnston, medical equipment donated by a
firm in Worcester, and an ambulance donated by Greenwood Fire
Apparatus of North Attleboro.
Hector Solis, a Central Falls businessman who emigrated from
Guatemala 35 years ago, and Gordon Duke, a former Providence
firefighter who visited the country, are the credited with helping
to make the donations possible. Solis said he started contacting
local departments about donating their old equipment to the
Guatemalans about four years ago, after a friend informed him of
the need.
The gift of the three fire trucks from East Providence
represented the biggest gift so far.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
donated by local departments head for Guatemala this weekend, where
firefighters from the Central American nation say they are badly
needed.
Nineteen firefighters from Guatemala will leave Central Falls
Sunday with four trucks, an ambulance, the two vans in which they
came, and another used truck for the roughly 5,000-mile journey
home. The trip is expected to take 12 to 13 days.
Four of the men will break off to go to Atlanta, where they are
to pick up two more fire trucks that the commandant and chief of
Guatemala's Volunteer Fire Department Cesar Augusto Gonzalez-Arroyo
has arranged to purchase for $3,000.
Gonzalez-Arroyo said his volunteer company currently has just 55
fire trucks for the 120 fire stations scattered around the country.
There are few aerial trucks - not enough to protect the 90
buildings in Guatemala City with 17 or more floors, Gonzalez-Arroyo
told The Providence Journal.
In the areas outside the capital there are no aerial trucks,
meaning that usually when a fire breaks out, the building burns to
the ground.
"The true reality is that we need these trucks,"
Gonzalez-Arroyo said. "We are very happy to be bringing these
trucks to Guatemala."
The donated equipment includes two ladder trucks and a pumper
truck donated by the city of East Providence, a piece of fire
apparatus from the town of Johnston, medical equipment donated by a
firm in Worcester, and an ambulance donated by Greenwood Fire
Apparatus of North Attleboro.
Hector Solis, a Central Falls businessman who emigrated from
Guatemala 35 years ago, and Gordon Duke, a former Providence
firefighter who visited the country, are the credited with helping
to make the donations possible. Solis said he started contacting
local departments about donating their old equipment to the
Guatemalans about four years ago, after a friend informed him of
the need.
The gift of the three fire trucks from East Providence
represented the biggest gift so far.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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