Condega, Nicaragua now has a full-fledged fire department

By Makayla Zurn, KTVZ.COM

In the past five years, the city of Bend has given the town of Condega, Nicaragua something it hasn't had in its nearly 150-year existence: a fire department.

Since 2004, Bend Fire and Rescue has been fund-raising, gathering donations and training so that lives can be saved 3,000 miles away.

The Mission

It's hard to believe there are countries and communities out there that don't have the resources or training to protect their people.

This is the situation in Condega, Nicaragua, a small city in the second-poorest country in Central America.

For years, the city of 10,000 has been dealing with preventable highway accident deaths and devastating fires that are left to burn out.

Semi and car accidents on the Pan American Highway are a weekly occurrence. Drivers and passengers get trapped and no one can get them out.

In 2004, the city of Bend adopted Condega as its sister city.

Since then, the city and several volunteers have been dedicated to getting Condega what it needs to flourish as a city in an impoverished country.

"Everybody knows there's a need," said Deputy Fire Chief Mark Taylor, who has been the driving force behind this partnership.

In two years, Bend has donated two fire trucks, equipment and fire gear to Condega.

"To me, fire service and emergency service is a right," said Taylor. "It's a human right that people ought to have."

The first truck made it down in early 2008, and to the surprise of Taylor and his crew, there was a fully staffed volunteer fire department raring to go in Condega.

All they needed was training - and they were very eager to learn.

It's been a year and a half since then, and now a second truck has made the more than 3,000-mile trek from Bend to Condega.

It too was welcomed with a parade through the streets of the city and with the utmost gratitude from the people of Condega, especially it's fire department.

Bomberos de Condega Fire Chief Ramiro expressed gratitude when the truck arrived:

"This truck comes to the town of Condega. It doesn't come just to the fire department, it comes to the people of Condega," he said.

From the beginning of the project until now, many lives have been saved in the country from your generous donations to the project.

Although many of you may not be able to immediately locate Condega on a map, the people of Condega know where the city of Bend, Oregon is.

"To understand where Condega, Nicaragua is economically compared to Bend, Oregon, they are miles apart," said Taylor.

"And people in Bend understand that they've got it, not just good, but they have it very good. And I think most people feel like they have the obligation to share that good fortune," he said.

The Trek to Condega

In this last visit to Condega, NewsChannel 21 had a camera along for the ride.    

Two Bend firefighters documented their trip to the city, bringing with them a second fire truck for fighting wildland fire and another three tons of gear.

"For them to not only have a fire truck but two, there is no doubt how grateful they are," Taylor said after his recent trip.

Now, the people of Condega, Nicaragua call the people of Bend brothers and sisters.

The firefighters who traveled to Condega said they were surprised with what they've done with so little.

Jaime Garcia, the second Bend firefighter on the latest trip to Nicaragua, said, "The majority of their responses have been to highway accidents, and that's been a marked improvement."

"They've actually been able to save some lives with the engine and the extrication equipment that we've provided," Garcia said. 

In September, Garcia and Taylor made the trek to Condega. They brought a wildland fire truck plus 17 pallets of gear - about 3 and a half tons worth - on an Air Force C-17.

This was made possible by the Denton program, which allows private U.S. organizations to use space available on military cargo planes to ship goods to needy countries for free.

Although this sister city agreement may sound like a huge responsibility, it doesn't cost you a thing.

"The city has not put out any money," Taylor said. "There isn't a line item in the budget for a sister city project. It's what we are doing to help out."

"This is just a small piece that the city was able to help out with," he said.

The city of Condega is grateful to have this new fire truck. And the need is there, as the city sits on one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in Central America.

Jaime Delgado, the mayor of Condega, said, "Condega is one of the most accident-prone areas at the moment, and thanks to this transaction, now our team will be able to save lives."

It's hard to believe a 100 percent volunteer fire department with a motorcycle dispatcher is saving lives on the Pan-American Highway.

"They don't have an established 911, like we do in the States," explained Garcia. 

"They have a phone number for the fire department. Someone will pick up the phone, they will dispatch someone on a motorcycle to see if it's actually a working fire. From there they will dispatch the fire truck," he said. 

Garcia, a Spanish-speaking firefighter from Bend, was instrumental in this round of training.

One of the challenges the Condega Fire Department faces is its lack of water sources. They have very few fire hydrants, and some haven't ever been used.

The new truck is able to pull water from the city's natural water resources, and a lot of time was spent practicing this technique, as well as laying hose and basic EMS training.

"They really want to learn, and that's very obvious," said Taylor.

"They're there on time, they stay," he said. "We've put in some really long days, and they want to get the most out of training that they can." 

The help does not stop here.

Next for the Condega Bomberos Project is building the Condega fire department an actual fire house, where they can store the trucks and receive emergency calls.

They also would like to set up an exchange program where firefighters from Condega will visit Bend and vice versa. 

So for now and future generations, they can build on something that was once so far out of reach.

If you want to learn more, and how you can help, visit the project's Website, www.condegabomberos.com.