By Khalida Sarwari
A white 2000 KME fire engine stocked with equipment was on its way down to Mexico on July 20 for a new life in a northwestern Mexican city after serving the residents of Santa Clara County for the first part of the 2000s.
The Santa Clara County Fire Department donated the fire truck to its sister fire department in Guaymas, Mexico, saying that the apparatus can no longer be used as a frontline vehicle in the county but still works and can be sold only for a fraction of what it’s worth.
The truck had surpassed the vehicle age and mileage recommendation in the county fire’s apparatus replacement guideline, according to department spokeswoman Stephanie Stuehler.
The fire engine will help Guaymas open a third fire station and improve the department’s response time, said Diego Uzcanga, a firefighter and paramedic of 16 years who came up to accept the donated vehicle and drive it down back to Mexico with his partner, Jose Ivan Sanchez. Uzcanga anticipated it would take them about two days to drive the vehicle back.
A handful of Santa Clara County Fire Department officials, including Chief Ken Kehmna, met with Uzcanga and Sanchez at the department’s headquarters in Los Gatos on July 18 to hand over the keys to the fire engine. In return, Kehmna was presented with a recognition plaque from the Guaymas Fire Department.
“We’re very appreciative of Santa Clara County Fire, our brothers, that have helped us with all our equipment,” Uzcanga said through a translator, wearing a navy uniform similar to the ones worn by Santa Clara County firefighters. Both he and Sanchez wore a Santa Clara County Fire patch on one side of their uniforms.
Most of Guaymas’ equipment, uniforms and fire engines were donated by either Santa Clara County or the El Segundo fire departments, Uzcanga said. The 2000 KME is the third fire engine from Santa Clara County in 10 years and brings Guaymas’ inventory up to a total of eight engines, he said.
The engine had been stored as a “reserve” apparatus at the Campbell station, according to Kehmna. Most fire rigs are used for about 10 years before they’re stored and used only when frontline engines are out of commission. At some point they’re either sold or donated, Kehmna said. Most typically sell for anywhere between $8,000 to $10,000, depending on the market, he said. The donated vehicle still has at least 10 years of service left in it, and when it can no longer run they’ll still be able to use its parts, Kehmna said.
“It really is a situation where they can’t afford to buy new vehicles,” he said. “My whole thing is I’m a public servant first, so furthering that in another country is a very proud moment for me.”
Additional fire engines were donated to Mission College in Santa Clara, Monterey Peninsula College and the South Bay Regional Public Safety Training Consortium.
To replenish its supply, the county fire department recently purchased new fire engines that are more efficient, environmentally friendly and have the latest technology, according to Stuehler.
The program was started about 25 years ago by retired battalion chief Hal Chase, said Carl Kustin, a task force leader for the Homeland Security Department and retired San Mateo Fire Department battalion chief. The sister department relationship between the two fire departments was forged in 1989.
In addition to the material donations, firefighters from Santa Clara County will also routinely go down to Mexico to help train their Mexican counterparts, Kustin said.
“They’re so appreciative, they’re so humble and they’re so proud of the relationships they have,” said Kustin of the Mexican firefighters. “This goodwill goes beyond any monetary amount.”
Link:
Los Gatos, Saratoga: County fire rig donated to Guaymas, Mexico
