HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. -- Airmen from the 70th Aerial Port Squadron and a C-17 Globemaster II flight crew from Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Washington, teamed up to help get a second donated fire truck to a city in Guatemala on July 17.
The city of Coral Gables, Florida, donated two fire trucks to their sister city, La Antigua, Guatemala, through the Denton Program. The first truck was delivered in April.
The Denton program is run by the Department of Defense and allows for the use of government aircraft and equipment to be utilized in humanitarian relief efforts.
“Ultimately, it is about providing a service to a need,” said Chief Master Sgt. Tony Rodriguez, the 70th APS superintendent, who helped spearhead the project. “And from the feedback I've gotten, the fire department and the citizens of La Antigua are overjoyed at having these two vehicles in service there. I must admit, I'm glad to have played a role in providing that service.”
It took seven 70th APS Airmen to assemble and precisely place specialized wooden shoring ramps used to load the fire truck onto the C-17. Once inside, the fire truck was secured with heavy chains and other mechanisms to ensure stability during flight.
The shoring ramps were almost a breaking point for the entire project due to time constraints. If the ramps were not built on time, the whole project would have been scrapped. Thankfully, Rafael Gavarrete, a Coral Gables resident and former fire fighter from Guatemala, heard about the problem.
“I was having Cuban coffee in a bakery near my house when I met a fire fighter who told me about the trucks going to Guatemala,” said Gavarrete. “He explained that they were having trouble getting the (shoring ramp) kits built and didn’t have enough time or man power to accomplish it.”
Gavarrette thought it was a simple problem to solve as long as they had some help. He turned to Homestead ARB for help.
“I really only played a small role,” said Gavarrette. “I just bought some of the wood and equipment. I could never have built the ramps myself, it was the volunteers from the base who did most of the work.”
It ended up taking Gavarrette and two volunteers from the 70th APS four days to build the 3,500-pound shoring ramps. Gavarrette donated some of the materials himself and the rest was donated by the city of Coral Gables. “It goes without saying that there's a significant sense of accomplishment attached to something like this; it can't be helped,” said Rodriguez. “There were so many pieces that needed to come together, in a relatively short amount of time.”
The City of Coral Gables International Affairs Coordinating Council was awarded the Sister Cities International Innovation Award for Humanitarian Assistance for a city with a population less than 100,000.