The former Superintendent of the Corps Firefighters in Santo Domingo Este, Colonel Rafael Javier Bueno, said that the emergency service represented by the bodies of firefighters in the Dominican Republic it is increasingly deficient.
For Javier Bueno, the situation in the country of firefighters Over the years it becomes more precarious, because the city grows, but the institution does not receive an investment with which it can sustain itself, therefore, they have many deteriorated equipment, which makes their services less effective.
In the framework of national firefighter daywhich is celebrated on the second Sunday of March, Colonel Rafael Javier Bueno highlights that this institution has been the hardest hit and that it has been “totally behind in time”, for what he considers society is less protected every day.
He assures that within this organization the salary situation is worse than ever, since every day the family basket grows and the team of firefighters continues to charge “a pittance” monthly.
“All inputs, for example, housing, uniforms, food, fuel, have risen and the budget of the firefighters or the salaries remain the same,” said the colonel.
He complained that the firefighters of the country do not have a national academy, where some 300 men can be recruited “Like the Army does, like the National Police does. We do not have it”.
Colonel Rafael Javier Bueno suggests a reform for the firefighters and that this body cease to depend on the municipalities, since they do not have sufficient resources to sustain them.
He assures that the Dominican Republic has only 178 bodies of firefighters, of which 78 are in poor condition. He said that 293 communities in the country are not receiving an efficient service.
“The last time in the Union we had some 178 fire departments, of which you have to knock down 78, which is in little wooden houses, in a borrowed place, in a cockpit, a pot that was a municipal slaughterhouse, in the back of a town hallFormer Mayor of the Santo Domingo East Fire Department
The former Superintendent of the Corps of Firefighters in Santo Domingo Este indicated that another precariousness they have is that they continue to bring into the country old trucks, discarded from the United States and donated, “and you have to be collecting to be able to pay for transportation and then in recent months even obstacles to get those trucks out ”.
He indicated that the firefighters on many occasions “they practically ask for garbage” in the United States to solve a problem for society.
The colonel says he does not understand when the different governments that pass through the country assure that they are creating a modern society, expansion of the Santo Domingo Metro, more Cable Car, more shopping centers and industries, however, “the service of firefighters It’s sinking”.
The Fire Department located in the National District, which is the largest in the country, has a personnel deficit, “but by far.”
Javier Bueno indicated that several businessmen have painted the trucks to make it appear that these vehicles are in good condition, but that they arrived in the country in 1998.
This Friday the Corps of Firefighters of the National District was activated with its trucks full of water and available hoses, not only to take action in the event of a fire or any other emergency, but also for its 94 years of foundation.
On March 11, 1928, that citizen service entity was created. In 1880, a fire occurred in the Palace of Justice of Ciudad Nueva and the then President of the Republic, Gregorio Luperón, decided to create the body of firefighters of the National District through a decree, but it was not until 1928 that it materialized in the case of the National District.
Since then, a lot of water has put out fires in homes, businesses, vehicles and other properties. But now the task of the firefighters has diversified, because they are no longer called only to put out fires, but since 9-1-1 began, emergencies have increased due to problems of people trapped in elevators, people and vehicles that fall into the sea, assistance to animals and even created a beekeeping unit for cases of bees.
It is recalled that on October 26 of last year, the collapse of the roof of the Casa Mora building in La Vega caught fire, leaving a balance of three firefighters dead.
The firefighters The deceased were identified as Major Juan María Concepción, 53, Second Lieutenant Olvi Arias, 27, and Sergeant Major José Luis Mojica, 55.
