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 News from Around Banderas Bay | October 2006 
New Firetruck Reaches Bahia de Banderas
 Harold Sokolove - PVNN
| | The new truck, an AAR 2, which stands for Autobomba Ataque Rapido, is "a fire station on wheels." (Photos: Harold Sokolove | 
| | Dr. Jaime Cuevas, Presidente of the Bahia de Banderas, inspects the new firetruck. | 
| | A fire fighter using Fire Express employed less than 4 gallons of water to snuff out the fire in a car that was fully engulfed by flames. | 
| | The newest version of the "Jaws Of Life" extrication tool. | 
| | The grant is also being used to supply new first responder motorcycles. |
After about a year of planning and proposals, the Bahia de Banderas Fire Department has taken delivery of a brand new piece of fire fighting equipment which is state-of-the-art.
That is how this $330,000 truck is described by Stefan Haring, General Manager of the company which produced and sold the vehicle, El Palacio del Rescatista of Mexico City.
The company won the bid for the truck and related equipment and was able to deliver it in a relatively short time span because the vehicle was "in stock" and did not have to be built from the ground up, which, according to Haring, could have taken as long as 8 months.
The Bahia de Banderas fire department is responsible for providing emergency medical and fire protection in the 775 sq. km of the Banderas Bay area of Nayarit State, north of Puerto Vallarta. The "North Shore" area has many scattered towns and is a popular tourist destination, especially Nuevo Vallarta.
Instrumental in the planning process for the new equipment were two local fire department officials: Dr. Claudio Estrada, Director of the Proteccion Civil Y Bomberos and Francisco Nava, Asesor enviado por el Protección Civil de Nayarit, on assignment to Bahia de Banderas from Tepic, the state capital.
The new truck, an AAR 2, which stands for Autobomba Ataque Rapido, is "a fire station on wheels," says Haring. The "2" in the name means it's the bigger version of the two sizes of the truck that the company produces.
"We built the truck using the best of the best equipment and technology, from Germany, mainly," according to Haring.
Haring says although the technology is German, the truck has been "tropicalized," meaning it has a larger water-carrying capacity, to account for the lack of fire hydrants in the area and the truck's 500 gallon water tank is sturdier, made of polypropylene plastic, so it will not rust.
There are only 3 vehicles like this in Mexico, says Haring. Of the other two, one is in a suburb of Mexico City and the other in a suburb of Toluca.
The money for the AAR 2 came about as a result of a nearly $400,000 public safety grant from the federal government to upgrade the protection afforded to businesses, residents and tourists in the area. The grant is also being used to supply new first responder motorcycles.
In addition to the AAR 2, El Palacio del Rescatista is supplying a new ambulance to add to the department's fleet, new rescue equipment, namely the newest version of the "Jaws Of Life" extrication tool, 4 new air packs, forest fire fighting equipment, a new 5500- watt power generator, spotlights on extension poles, confined space/vertical rescue equipment, new hoses and foam firefighting capacity.
Aside from the new truck, Haring was particularly proud to show off the new $20,000 "Fire Express" system that was part of the funding package. It is Danish technology, Haring explained, using "micro drops" of water and a special nozzle to extinguish a fire, which means less water is necessary. Special protective clothing is provided to allow a firefighter to extinguish the fire from closer range.
In one training film Haring showed to his class of bomberos, a fire fighter using Fire Express employed less than 4 gallons of water to snuff out the fire in a car that was fully engulfed by flames. The Fire Express system will be permanently mounted in one of the department's pick up trucks.
The truck was officially presented to the Presidente of the municipality, Dr. Jaime Cuevas, on October 12. The firefighters demonstrated the new equipment and their skills to him and the media on October 14.
El Palacio del Rescatista is a family-owned business which has been around since 1989, spun off from another company to "become a department store for firefighters," in Harding's words.
Haring, a civil engineer, helps design the trucks his company sells from observations he's made while traveling around the globe.
"We won't sell anything we can't service…that's why we didn't just bring them a truck from Germany. We train customers to use it and we train customers to maintain it. We become partners with them. Fire fighting is difficult; this is our business and we consider ourselves experts, so we share our expertise."
That's why the funding also included consulting service, Haring says. He'll be returning to the area shortly to perform studies and offer his advice to administrators on such items as fire station logistics, communication systems and additional equipment suggestions. |
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