June 8 – Fifty firefighters from various regions of Mexico are in the Inland Empire for a week of specialized training as part of the Bombero Program. Each year the program rotates between Northern California and Southern California.

As part of the program, the Bomberos choose the techniques they would like to learn more about. This year due to the earthquakes they have been experiencing, they chose to learn structure collapse, rapid intervention, incident command and ventilation.

The Bombero Program is a partnership between California and Mexican fire departments that started more than 45 years ago. Each year a group of firefighters from Mexico are brought to the United States for training, and thousands have graduated over the past three decades. The trips are free to the firefighters, and the program is funded by donations collected throughout the year.

The Bombero Program provides valuable firefighting tools and techniques to our fellow firefighters of Mexico, in turn helping them provide their citizens with better fire protection. This chosen group of Bomberos then returns to their homeland to share what they have learned with their colleagues.

The training will conclude with a Bombero Banquet on June 10th at 6:00 p.m. at the Grumpy Golfer, 14144 Green Tree Blvd. Victorville. For tickets, please contact Fire Station 311 at (760) 245-5312. Join us for a wonderful evening of friendship and laughter.

We are proud to dedicate this year’s program to the memory of Engineer Nick Barrio, dubbing the program “Nicolas Barrio's 46th Bomberos Training Program”. Nick was an Engineer with the City of Riverside Fire Department and previously worked for the City of Victorville and Apple Valley Fire Departments. Nick lost his life last October in a tragic off-duty incident. Over the years, Nick was a strong advocate, supporter, and participant of the Bombero Program.

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