Two retired firefighters drove a truck-full of donated equipment to San Diego last week.

But it wasn’t for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. The 80 air packs, 130 bottles, 75 sets of clothing and other medical equipment is for the Cabo San Lucas Fire Department.

From there, members of the Baja-based fire department made the long journey back home, life-saving devices in-hand. They’re expected to receive it this week.

In a partnership that’s nearly 20 years old, South King Fire and Rescue helps their “sister” fire department every year by donating equipment. This year’s was one of their bigger donations.

South King Fire and Rescue firefighter Jeff Hamel recognized the Cabo San Luca Fire Department’s need while on vacation in the mid-1990s.

“We went down there on vacation and you know firemen always stop in and try to trade T-shirts or check out the local fire department, so when I stopped in… you talk to them and it’s very apparent that, wow, for a city of Cabo San Lucas, they don’t have much,” Hamel said. “It’s a whole different system down there.”

Hamel said at that time their income was $4,000, which had come from a chili cook off put together by the local restaurants.

“You look at their bunker gear and if they had gloves, they would be, like, gardening gloves,” he said. “The boots had holes the size of dollar bills in them. I mean, just horrible. So that’s what prompted me, years ago.”

Fire departments in depressed areas tend to have scarce government funding for basic needs, such as equipment or training.

And because the United States standards are more stringent, Hamel said, fire departments are forced to “get rid of things” but are unable to sell them because equipment, vehicles or other apparatus don’t meet the standards.

According to South King Fire and Rescue Capt. Jeff Bellinghausen, there are regulations that require fire departments in the U.S. to retire the clothes firefighters wear into fires 10 years after the manufacture date. There are similar requirements for their breathing apparatus. New technologies also force the replacement of older medical and rescue equipment that is still usable.

“It’s past its life expectancy here in the states, but it’s still much better than what they have there,” Hamel said.

But getting the donations there hasn’t always been smooth.

Hamel said it was much easier to fly the stuff there before 9/11, and they even had an agreement with Alaska Airlines to ship it for free, but rules got tighter. Then, there was that time the Mexican government wanted money for the donations.

“It’s just one of those things where it’s different structures,” Hamel said. “… We had a pallet of gloves donated and we had to end up sharing them with the health department down there, that was our ransom.”

Every time Hamel goes to Cabo San Lucas, he volunteers his time teaching firefighters whatever skills that are involved in operating various equipment they’ve donated.

“We go down and put on classes for them and they love it,” he said. “They don’t get that kind of education all the time so we go down there and teach for free and it’s just a great relationship.”

What’s better is hearing about how their donations and training have helped citizens during times of struggle, Hamel said. A story of success is told nearly every time.

One story that sticks out to Hamel is when a lady fell in a cistern, a septic-type tank.

The woman fell about 10 feet into waste and had a neck or spinal injury. Using what South King Fire and Rescue firefighters taught them, Cabo San Lucas firefighters put her on a backboard and slid her up on a ladder using a rope pull system.

“It’s just really gratifying to hear,” Hamel said. “You go down there and teach something and they put it to use.”

Hamel recalled the last time they donated air packs, the president of the Cabo San Lucas Fire Department got emotional as he thanked them endlessly.

He told Hamel a story about his son, a former volunteer firefighter, who lost his lung because he had to physically grab a leaking tank with hazardous material without the breathing apparatus.

“He’s no longer a volunteer firefighter, it ruined him for life,” Hamel said. “But that’s their mentality – we’ll just go in and carry it out. We’ve got to save the people so we’ll go in and do that.”

The last time they went down there, the city of about half a million people had four airpacks.

To donate or volunteer for the Cabo San Lucas Fire Department partnership, email Hamel at jeff.hamel@southkingfire.org.

South King Fire and Rescue loaded up airpacks to take to San Diego, which were then be taken to Mexico’s Cabo San Lucas Fire Department this week. Courtesy of South King Fire and Rescue