When Port Moody firefighter Rod deBoer travels to Peru this week as part of a contingent of volunteers with Firefighters Without Borders, he will be training emergency personnel how to battle blazes and avoid getting hurt.
But there are some questions even an expert like deBoer has a hard time answering.
"What we get asked a lot is 'How do you fight fires with not very much water?,'" he told The Tri-City News. "Here, we pretty much have a hydrant on every corner of the street. There, they don't. They may have a hydrant for every five city blocks and even then, there is a good chance it doesn't even work."
Fire trucks in Peru carry large tanks of water; if that tank is completely depleted, crews must unhook all of the hoses and equipment and send the vehicle to find the nearest hydrant to refill. That often gives a fire more time to grow, making it even more dangerous for emergency crews.
"There are a lot of those issues that we have to work around," said deBoer, who will conduct training sessions with the Cuerop General de Bomberos, Peru's all-volunteer national fire service. "When things catch on fire down there, they can burn down half a block of houses."
Peru's fire departments are fairly antiquated and there are nowhere near enough firefighters to service the country, he said.
For example, the city of Coquitlam, which has a population of more than 120,000, has four fire stations while Trujillo, a city of 800,000 deBoer will be visiting this week, has just two.
One of the techniques Firefighters Without Borders volunteers will be emphasizing during the training sessions is called "fire ground survival." With these skills, firefighters are able to assess damage and quickly get out of buildings when a structure has become unstable.
"We are taught, basically, how to rescue ourselves," he said.
That self-reliance can be crucial to saving the lives of first-responders, deBoer added, particularly in countries where building codes and a lack of sprinkler systems make it possible for blazes to quickly get out of control.
This week's trip will be the fourth time deBoer has travelled with Firefighters Without Borders, having already worked with colleagues in Peru and El Salvador.
He travels on his own dime and takes his allotted vacation time to do the work, and said he has made many friends during his travels.
"It is neat to have global friendships," he said. "When we leave, we think that hopefully these people now have the training that is going to keep them from getting hurt."
This year's Firefighters Without Borders team consists of firefighters from across British Columbia with a diverse range of skills.
Since 2008, FWB has donated 13 fire trucks, more than a thousand sets of turnout gear, more than 400 breathing apparatus and 20 tons of equipment valued at $2 million to fire departments in Belize, Cebu Philippines, Congo, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Thailand. To learn more about the organization, go to www.fwbcanada.ca.
