Cubans Use Russian Fire Apparatus, Have Few Stations, Small Pumps

Cubans Use Russian Fire Apparatus, Have Few Stations, Small Pumps

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As a volunteer fire fighter, I was most interested in seeing what the fire service was like during my recent visit to Cuba. I went there as a member of a study mission sponsored by the National Newspaper Association and conducted by three Cuban government officials.

The fire department was the only area I visited without the escort of Cuban officials. However, fire departments are usually not politically sensitive, so there was no objection when I took off by myself to see the Veradero Fire Department.

Most reasonably, this fire station is at the airport, and serves 11,000 people. The engineer said that this station did not average even one run a week and that the most usual run was “when a woman forgets and leaves food on the stove.”

Soon become friends

I speak almost no Spanish, and the firemen spoke almost no English, so it was a chore to communicate. But fire fighters are the same all over the world, apparently, and it wasn’t long before we were friends. They called an airline employee who spoke English to translate for us.

There are both similarities and differences between American and Cuban fire departments. In the United States, the captain is a fire fighter who has worked his way up through the ranks. In Cuba, my observation was that the captain is a military person assigned to the fire station as an administrator. The engineer seems to be the head fire fighter. This observation was made at two fire stations. It may not be accurate, but it seems to be true.

Cuban fire fighters stand alongside tanker, one of three pieces at Veradero Fire Department station that also protects airport. At right is rear-mount pump on the Veradero engine.

Cuban fire stations have Russian apparatus. Like rural American stations, they seem to have pumpers and tankers, not engines and trucks. Neither station that I visited had ladder trucks as such.

At the fire station in Matansas, I was escorted by the translator and the guide. I think the captain was put off by having a government official as a guide, and he said he couldn’t allow any pictures.

Pumps are smaller

However, his engineer was quite free in giving information, and I learned that their pumps are smaller than most in our country. According to his figures, their pumps are rated at about 600 gpm. He was interested in seeing pictures of our apparatus, and it was obvious that the engineer and the younger men were the true fire fighters as they crowded around to look at the pictures and ask questions while the captain was not particularly interested.

There again, firemen are generally apolitical. The engineer was interested in our machinery, while the captain, as a military man, could hardly show much interest in American products. At both fire stations, we confined our remarks to fire fighting. I didn’t even ask about fire department politics, such as how one gets to be an engineer or captain.

Impressed by prevention

The Cubans have a seemingly excellent fire prevention program, which includes building construction techniques, education programs, and fire extinguishers.

They do not have many fire stations, or many fire hydrants. I kept asking where the hydrants were, and kept getting the question, “What are hydrants?”

In Havana, with almost two million people, there are only eight fire stations.

We were at Morro Castle when the fire in the day care center broke out. I saw, and heard, only one fire engine. That was for a school with 450 children. In Louisville, they would have sent at least three engines and two trucks, if not more.

Fire station in Matansas has impressive front, but roof and windows need repairs.

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