Heading to Peru to teach firefighting skills

A member of the Kelowna Fire Department is heading to South America to spread the message of safe firefighting.

Glenn Paley is a training officer with the Kelowna Fire Department and will be heading to Peru next Monday with a group from Firefighters Without Borders. The objective of the trip is to teach fire crews how to use donated firefighting equipment.

Paley went to Peru last year with the organization. He says he was shocked to see the state of firefighting in the South American country.

“When you start to go to the smaller towns, the equipment is certainly out-of-date and very much in need of replacement,” he said.

That is why Paley is bringing with him protective gloves and balaclavas donated by fire halls in the Okanagan. He says the response is overwhelming.

“It’s amazing how happy they are to get something as simple as a pair of gloves and a balaclava,” he said.

Paley is also bringing webbing, which firefighters use in rescue situations.

“The Peruvians don’t have a lot of webbing so we take a lot of this and they’re thrilled to get something like this,” he said.

Besides all the new equipment, he hopes to impart North American standards of firefighting on the local fire halls.

“We have rules where we have to have firefighters on standby for rescue. They certainly wouldn’t have those rules,” he said.

“We are saying to them, you still need to be doing this because you need to be able to help out your brother firefighter if you have a problem.”

Paley says he is looking forward to catching up with the firefighters, also known as bomberos in Spanish, he met the first time he traveled to Peru.

“The people of Peru were extremely hospitable. They were gracious hosts and really appreciative of our team of firefighters being there to help them,” he said.

“I want to go back and see how they are doing and help them out.”

Paley leaves April 1 and will spend about three weeks in Peru traveling the country and training with local firefighters.