In general Mexican firefighters receive little or no training. All Mexican firefighters are volunteers (except the one local boss in each municipality) who sort of, kind of, learn on the job. They have limited insurance coverage and very few, if any, benefits. They are courageous people and greatly respected in their locality for this.Once again Lynn Brasnett (Past President of Pincher Creek Rotary and a Captain in Pincher Creek Fire Dept.), Chris Tomaras (Senior firefighter in the Lethbridge Fire Dept.) and Chris Carney (Captain in the Lethbridge Fire Dept.) have volunteered their time to assist in this training. Without this donation of their time this training would not take place at all. All the expenses of this training have been underwritten by the Rotary Club of Lethbridge.
For October 2017 the focus of the training courses for Mexican firefighters has been changed. The intent this October is to “train the trainers” so that training may continue throughout the year. Prior to our arrival in Mazatlan, 6 senior firefighters will have been selected to attend a pre instruction class. At this class they will be given a 2 day seminar in the proper presentation of course material. After those 2 days these 6 senior individuals will then lead the instruction of “regular” firefighters with our Albertan trainers serving as supervisors. This training course will be held at the University of Sinaloa in Mazatlan.
We hope that these changes will enable training to continue throughout the year in the three states we serve..
Throughout this past year the Albertan training team has assembled a large amount of equipment which will be given out during the training sessions. Delivery will be assisted by the Los Amigos team.