Kelowna

Photo: Contributed - www.fwbcanada.ca

A member of the Kelowna Fire Department will spend his spring vacation with a group of BC Firefighters providing enhanced training for South American firefighters, known as Bomberos.

Glenn Paley will travel with Firefighters Without Borders Canada on April 1 to continue the development of an excellent working relationship with the Peru Fire Service.

FWB Canada has also delivered two large donations of used firefighting equipment over the past two years.

The Cuerpo General de Bomberos Voluntarios del Peru (CGBVP) is an all volunteer National Fire Service serving the over 29 million citizens of Peru.

There are approximately 10,000 male and female Bomberos protecting the citizens and property of Peru from 196 fire stations.

While the country moves forward with a booming economy, the fire service is also trying to modernize with its main emphasis being on improved training.

This year’s FWB Canada team of instructors departs April 1, spending two weeks delivering intensive training covering a range of topics including positive pressure ventilation, auto extrication, emergency scene management, essential fire attack skills, first aid/EMS, driver operator training, fire ground survival and fire investigation

Photo: Contributed - Facebook

Glenn Paley

Paley sees this as an opportunity to take the knowledge he’s gained from over 20 years in the Fire Service, and guide the Bomberos towards more safe and efficient firefighting practices.

“I am very passionate about the fire service and being a part of the brotherhood of firefighting. I am excited to pass on some of the knowledge and experience that I have gained here in North America and share it with the Peruvian Bomberos,” says Paley.

Paley along with the other members of Firefighters Without Borders Canada have been involved in fundraising efforts and securing donations of equipment for their deployment.

The organization and its members bear all the costs of shipping equipment, developing training programs, travel expenses and utilize their vacation time for the mission.

Lieutenant Bob Dubbert with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services is the Team Leader.

This will be the 4th deployment to Peru for team members Rod DeBoer, Randy Dubbert, and Bob Dubbert and the second deployment for Paley.

The remainder of the team members including Paley are making their inaugural deployment with Firefighters Without Borders Canada.

Firefighters Without Borders Canada is a registered charity. What began as a group of dedicated firefighters in 2008 called Engines for El Salvador, then became Firefighters Without Borders BC and finally Firefighters Without Borders Canada.

The mission of the group is to collect outdated firefighting equipment and donate it to needy countries.

Since 2008, the group has donated 13 fire trucks, over 1,000 sets of turnout gear, over 400 breathing apparatus and over 20 tons of equipment valued at over $2 million to Belize, Cebu, Philip­pines, Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Thai­land.