Victor Fernandez says the common brotherhood of the world's firehalls means you can go anywhere and find the same people.
There's one of every type of person and personality, like the funny guy, the lazy one, the upbeat guy — even the one who tells tall tales about catching big fish.
"They call me the humanitarian guy," says Fernandez of his role at St. Albert's fire station No. 3.
For 30 years he has been an active firefighter in this city, but the 54-year-old was born far away in Chile. He began his path toward a career in fire fighting in the capital of Santiago when he was in his late teen years. The city, with a population of 6 million, has 120 fire departments, all of which are volunteer stations — a situation common in developing nations in Central and South America.
Similarly, they all also face the problem of inadequate and substandard equipment.
It's not uncommon for squadrons of Chilean 'bomberos' to wear what Fernandez did in his early days: shoes or rubber boots, jeans, a basic jacket and a hardhat or helmet. There is no special gear or breathing apparatus. Safety protection is almost non-existent.
"We were very energetic and wanted to do a good job but we had the minimal things to fight fires," Fernandez said, reminiscing about his start. "If you had a pair of boots, you were doing OK."
A few years later he immigrated to Canada and eventually became a firefighter here. His entire Canadian firefighting career has been here in St. Albert and it was here that he learned not only that the equipment was not only far superior but also that it was still useful after decommissioned.
And thus, a brilliant and simple idea was born, to take gear from North America and send it where it's needed.
The birth of a giant
When he shipped over those first two helmets to station No. 18 in Santiago, he remained humble and steadfast that he was doing the right thing.
That was 10 years ago and the shipments kept getting bigger. Soon afterward he sent two full sets of gear. Then 10 sets. Then it was time to incorporate as a charity.
His timing couldn't have been better. Medical science had produced a study that showed the health risks of being a firefighter in Canada.
"They discovered that we're dying of eight types of cancer because of the toxicity and the environment that we're working in. That was my turning point."
Even with modern equipment, modern building materials bring more hazardous chemicals into a firefighter's workplace. The bomberos of Chile might not have to deal with so much burning plastic in their communities but that's a moot point if they're walking into a burning house with only wet rags covering their mouths.
Firefighters all over the world need to be protected while they try to protect the people. Fernandez recognized this and everybody he works with gets it.
Man on a mission
Fernandez began Canadian Aid for Fire Services Abroad (CAFSA) in 2000. In 10 years, he has had 12 successful missions. Each one takes several months of planning, preparation and logistical co-ordination.
He has collected, refurbished and shipped more than 800 complete sets of personal protective gear (including jackets, pants, coveralls, helmets, boots, gloves, breathing apparatuses) and five fire trucks to various communities in Central and South America, plus Cuba. The total value of all of these goods is estimated at $2.5 million.
Recently he delivered two donated fire trucks from Dow's Fort Saskatchewan petrochemical refinery to Chillan, Chile, the city nearest to the epicentre of last February's magnitude 8.8 earthquake.
Ed van Delden, emergency services and security leader for the Dow plant, said he'd heard about CAFSA and saw an opportunity for a really large gift.
"That was a no-brainer. Clearly, being able to reuse something, that would always be our first choice."
He even went along with Fernandez for the training portion of the donation.
"It was very rewarding. It made a huge difference to the people receiving it. Honestly, they closed Main Street down. They had a parade!"
Last month CAFSA delivered 20 sets of fire gear to San Marcos, Guatemala. The next donation is scheduled for September to Iloca, Chile which suffered extensive damage after the earthquake spawned a devastating tsunami.
The chance of a lifetime
Fernandez is now one of 10 finalists for a CBC contest called Canada's Champions of Change. The competition is bringing not only a lot of attention to his not-for-profit aid foundation but also the prospect of helping out with a cash prize of $25,000.
Co-worker Lyall Hutchinson was the one who nominated him for the contest. He's known Fernandez since he moved to St. Albert and sees first-hand the amount of time and effort he puts into his work.
"He was always collecting things and sending things back to his old firefighter friends in Chile. He's always giving back."
Fernandez is more like an unstoppable force. It was only a matter of time before Hutchinson got involved, too. He was travelling to Fort McMurray and Fernandez needed something picked up from there.
"The thing about Victor is that he's very focused, very energetic. He finishes something and he's off to something else."
Hutchinson decided that not only was his friend a champion of change but he was also a real patriot to his adoptive country. Every donated jacket prominently features the CAFSA badge with its large maple leaf background.
"What Victor has done is made me more aware of our responsibility as Canadians. It's funny. He was born in Chile."
Fernandez himself is thankful for the support of his friends and service organizations like the Saint City Rotary Club. He remembers his mother's lesson that helped him learn how to inspire others.
"She said, 'If you want the world to change, you start.'"
Voting
Voting for the Champions of Change contest closes at 6:45 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 10. People can vote up to 10 times. Some 100,000 votes have already been counted.
On Jan. 16 the two champions with the most votes, one domestic and one international, will be honoured. Watch CBC News Network at 7:30 p.m. or CBC at 10:30 p.m.
To vote, please visit www.cbc.ca/change.
To learn more about Fernandez's organization, please visit www.cafsa.net.
