by Frankfurt-Granada Friendship Association
The firefighters’ squad leader is desperate. He races around the building, frantically seeking a glimpse of the two simulated “victims” inside. One of them is probably unconscious. Quickly the leader ponders a tactic. In an instant, he barks an order over the radio to the squad.
Immediately, the squad sets up the water hoses. The advance squad moves to the front of the building’s entrance. Next comes the crucial command: “Water march!” Fire’s number-one antidote starts spouting out towards the building.Then suddenly, a loud whistle and angry screams. The German instructor, Juergen Hohn, is beside himself. The firefighters had actually used water in what was supposed to be, literally, a dry run!
All this transpired during a recent training workshop in Granada for the fire department, “Bomberos de la Villa.” Financing from the city council of Frankfurt, Germany has spurred the development of the firefighters as well as other social projects for Granada and surrounding area. This NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) has been supporting the Granada Fire Department in many ways since 2002, shortly after the GFD was founded. The Frankfurt-Granada City Friendship Association has supplied material donations ranging from basic medical equipment to an entire fire truck previously used by the Frankfurt Fire Department. Other donations include several firefighting workshops for Granada’s smoke eaters, led by the German instructor Hohn.
A series of three workshops were conducted in April in Granada, with Hohn supported by Juan Espinoza, another German firefighter with Spanish roots. Firefighters from other cities in Nicaragua also participated in the workshops over a two-and-a-half week period. Activities were divided into three parts: basic fire extinction techniques and radio communication, vertical fire rescue techniques, and water rescue techniques. Firefighters were run through a gamut of exercises and tested at the conclusion with written exams and special team exercises.
Capping off the workshop previous to the departure of the two German trainers, a great public exhibition was organized for April 28 in the Central Park in Granada in front of the majestic cathedral.
The entire fleet of the Granada Fire Department was on display, including street vehicles and boats, along with other special equipment like the beekeeper suits used when the department is called on to deal with a swarm of Africanized bees (the infamous “killer bees” that have been moving northward up the continent
This finale was viewed by an invited group of guests and an audience of curious civilians who watched the mock drill. As a finishing act, every firefighter participant was presented a diploma to certify his newly-acquired skills from the workshop.
Reading this account of firefighter’s activities, you might conclude that Granada’s Fire Department is in good financial shape and has no serious funding problems. But if you visited the GFD headquarters and took a look around and talked with the firefighters, reality would strike you hard.
An independent fire station of our own is, for example, still an unfulfilled dream. Our current provisional department is located in the La Villa community center. The funds for five years as a result of a cooperation agreement with the Frankfurt-Granada Friendship Association. The city council, though, has not made a decision about a proper location in all that time, thereby blocking any further progress on this project.
Because of this neglect by the country’s major institutions, we have no other recourse than to depend on other sources of income to fund our highly required services. We not only cover the city of Granada, but the whole district.
Despite these limitations, in the last 8 years since our foundation, we have worked hard at constantly improving our services in emergencies and we have earned major recognition in the community of Granada for our ability to respond immediately to emergencies. We can proudly state that we are the fire department in Nicaragua with the second highest number of operations in the whole country, topped only by the professional station in Managua. But we cannot do it on our own.
Until now, the greatest support has been in the form of material donations through NGOs and other firefighting institutions from the USA, Germany and Spain. Another source of income represent our special services, such as water deliveries, non-emergency patient transfers, or cleaning out clogged pipes: services we offer in exchange for a small amount of money that barely covers the costs.
Because of the great necessity to respond quickly to fires and other emergencies and because the voluntary system is not as developed in Nicaragua as it is in the USA and Germany, the GFD must rely on employed firefighters to maintain a 24-7 operation. This leads to even more financial problems since it is not only difficult to meet a monthly payroll, but qualified workers soon leave when they find better paying jobs.
In 2007 the GFD, also known as the Fire Department de la Villa, requested financial support directly from the local community. Emergency funds were raised and a support group, the “Amigos de los Bomberos,” was formed. It is made up of Granadinos, both Nicaraguan and foreign residents, mostly business owners. The Amigos purpose is to transform the fundraising system from charitable donations to a more secure, ongoing income based on an exchange of services and support between the firefighters and the community.
Another Amigos project is aimed at the payroll insecurities. The concept is to provide a scholarship for the firefighters. This entails receiving a generous donation from a local business to provide a year’s salary for one firefighter, which not only supports an individual person but also makes the life of every civilian a bit safer.
Amigos de los Bomberos Granada is poised and ready to help when duty calls. Amigos, in turn, needs the help and support of both residents of Granada and visitors to Granada.
