Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Firefighters Without Borders

Local 920 members lend a hand in the Dominican Republic

In January 2020, two groups of Local 920 members, one from Belleville fire service and one from Quinte West fire service, travelled to the Dominican Republic. These volunteer firefighters were not there on a sunny vacation lounging on the beach, sightseeing, and enjoying some R&R. Their trip had a much more generous purpose in mind: they were part of the Firefighters without Borders (FFWB), Bombero Project.

Firefighters without Borders, Canada, has been sending equipment to the Dominican Bombero program for a long time. The goal of the mission in January 2020 was to further assist local firefighters by providing practical skills training in how to keep the equipment running and how to operate it properly.

The two groups of volunteers were at two different fire stations in very rural areas of the island, at San Francisco Vincentillo and Padre Las Casas, to help set up a new fire service in these remote areas of the country. Five firefighters from Quinte West and five from Belleville participated in setting up the rural operations.

FFWB Canada team Ontario, mostly 920 members from Belleville and Quinte West, have been continuously working despite the challenges of COVID-19 to help others around the world. They have been collecting donations of trucks and equipment and have been able to send a pumper and a tanker to the Dominican Republic with the help of the US Air force and Niagara Falls, New York, fire department. The trucks are in their new homes and equipped with life-saving tools in departments near Punta Cana where they had no firefighting equipment at all.

Team Belleville consists of Carl Eggiman from FFWB Canada, Captain Phil Cyr (Belleville firefighter), Jennifer Allen (Belleville firefighter), David Kelly (Belleville firefighter), Josh Belnap (Belleville paramedic), Autumn Belnap from HQEMS, and Joe McCombe (Quinte West firefighter). As soon as it is safe to travel, they will be going back to the Dominican on a seven-day training mission in partnership with Sunwing to continue their journey to help firefighters in need.

In January 2020, before the pandemic struck, Carl Eggiman (Firefighters without Borders) and Team Belleville members Phil Cyr, Josh Belnap, Jennifer Allen, David Kelly, Autumn Belnap went to San Francisco de Vincentillio in the Dominican Republic.

Phil Cyr, Josh Belnap, David Kelly, Jennifer Allen (Belleville)

Firefighters Without Borders

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