Juan Raymundo Tavares has dedicated half of his life to serve as firefighter volunteer of the National District, 25 years to be exact.
At 51, the colonel Tavares, as is known among his colleagues, is the commander of the National District Rescue Department and commander Operations of the Huron Unitspecialized in search and rescue in structures collapsed.
Precisely, because of the positions he holds, in the early hours of Tuesday, April 8, he was one of the first members that reached the collapsed disco Jet Set before alert that he received on his phone cellular.
The notice took it awake, working on his study of recordingsince he also works as a sound engineer.
“In the chat of emergencies that we have warned, but they only put the direction, at the time I did not know that it was the disco Jet Set. We activate the unit Ferret because we had already heard on radio that the first unit of firefighters who arrived was asking for the whole support Possible, “he says.
To the discolocated in the El Portal sector, arrived between 1:10 and 1:15 in the morning, and was received by the lights of the ambulances that were already in the place and our units of firefighters.
Among the first faces he saw, he acknowledged Eliezer Pérezsinger’s brother Rubby Pérezwhom I already knew for their work in the studies of recording. Eliezer guided him about the possible location of Rubby and asked him to apply his knowledge and skills to get it out.
“I say: don’t worry, let me go to see what is there, because I’m still thinking that what he collapsed was a piece of ceiling“He said not yet knowledge of the magnitude of the tragedy That, today, he turned off 232 lives.
“When I arrived and I see that all the ceiling It is on the floor and so many voices shouting, many people were still dating at that time, survivors with cuts in the face, crying a lot, desperate because much of those who could leave, their companions did not. It really was a chaos“He said a Free newspaper.
Organization work begins
With the equipment that had in our units of rescuethe rescuers They began to break with Drillshammers and a tool called expander or combined, which is a equipment that used for Rescue vehicular
“They are quite powerful, they break, they cut metal, as they also expand, they can lift a great weightwith those equipment We start working immediately. We distributed and started to do hole, to enter below the structures that we had access and there were people right there and we began to release all those people, “said the colonel.
In a matter of minutes they had already released between 18 to 25 people.
“We had the breaking tool, but not to lift the great weight. After we took everyone who was easily accessible, who were trapped mild, that is, with chairs, trapped from the feet that could not be moved, then we started working with the people who had to break the slab, break concrete and lift beams, lift great weight To be able to free them, “he added.
It is then when the support of equipment heavy with cranes to be able to lift the large blocks and concrete beams.
According to Tavares’s story, this work is extremely delicatesince when breaking with the Drills Above trapped victims, it is possible to violate them greater damage.
“When you break, with that movement you can make a slab or beam or a very heavy structure that is on another with the movement slips and moves and can create another collapse or catch another person or do more damage to people who were already inside the one of the trapped structure, “he said.
To carry out this work, the firefighters They worked in Relay.
“It was difficult to change because nobody wanted to leave, nobody wanted to change, everyone wanted to help. I entered like 1:15 to Jet Set And I left at 6:00 in the afternoon to take my first break, “he recalled.
“We work 55 hours without stallrelieving us, without stallall institutionsincluding members of the Civil Defense, Red CrossNational Army, among others, “the firefighter.
Couple work
Within his homeTavares is not the only one delivered to the work of rescuehis wife, Paola Reyes is also a voluntary captain of the body of Firefighters.
Currently, Reyes has seven months of gestation and had to refrain from participating in the work of rescue in it Jet Set But he kept monitoring him and support to her husband through the radio system they use to communicate among the members of the institution.
“She is my right handshe is my everything and we work hand in hand in the emergencies“He said.
Attendance Psychological
He colonel Tavares emphasized the importance of receiving attendance Psychological After each work of rescue large -scale.
“We also receive a psychological treatment after each emergency of that of great magnitude because although one feels very strong and prepared for this, it is incredibly, many people may say: you are relaxed, but, it is that we have a vision, we enter as in a kind of form, that is, we when we are in an emergency, we are in emergency,” he said.
He indicated that “when you get cooled, that everything already happens, as one reacts and sees the pain of others, see so many people crying, that affects a lot.”
The encounter with Dotel
At that time of conversation, the firefighter He pauses to remember the meeting he held with the Octavio player Dotel In that fateful morning.
“It was night, we listen Dotelbut I spoke a lot with him and even looked good, “he recalled as one of the moments that impacted him the most when he later knew that that same person had died.
“You do not imagine, when you make that contact, that commitment to that person who is trapped, that you say: we are here, we are going to help you, it has us, we are not going to abandon you. You do that link with them, all that union and suddenly when it already comes out, you leave. That is strong,” he said in a afflicted tone.
On the opposite side, he pondered the samples of affection and the joy he feels when he rescues someone alive, as well as the respect and admiration that the body of Firefighters among the population.
“Every time we got one, we applauded. We felt happy. Every time we did a chain passing the victim with each other to even take her to the ambulance, that was a joy we had, enormous happiness. He has no word to describe it,” he said.
Unit Ferret
He commander clarified that the unit Ferret It is operating since 2011, with local and international training for its about 120 members, of which between 55 and 60 they remain constantly active and work autonomously.
“It’s one unit which is prepared to work three days anywhere in the world. The Emergency Operations Center (COE) uses us for the entire country. We are national, “he said with great pride.
In addition to Rescue in structures Collapsed, ferrets are responsible for getting people trapped in elevators, who fall into some hole, to those who are accidentally accidental in large buildings or those who help lower antennas or roofs to people with suicidal attempts.
Others Rescue important
With all these skills and years of experiencehe colonel Tavares provided services in other key events.
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Haiti earthquake, in 2010
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Explosion in San Cristóbal, in 2023
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It collapses in the overpass of February 27 with Máximo Gómez, in 2023
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Collapse of an appliance store in La Vega, in 2023
Equipment sophisticated And more volunteers
The wishes of tavares for unity Ferret is to see it grow more and more and more volunteersas well as the inclusion in the inventory of new equipment of work.
“Of course, we lack some more sophisticated, more complex tools, but, thank God, that we have all eyes on top, those efforts are already being made to have those those equipment those equipment We are missing, “he said.
“We are getting some equipment further sophisticated that the people of Puerto Rico brought, who are movement detectors within the structures and that can also detect low frequency sound, that is, any movement within the structure, you can detect it with those equipment“He said about these equipment that will facilitate the work of rescue.
Tavares thanked him support of the head of the body of Firefighters of the National District, General José Luis Frometa Herasme, and as for the volunteers that make it up, the colonel He pointed out that more than 200 members of rescueso much firefightersas of civil defense, and the humanitarian unity of the Army.
“The firefighters From the district we have a great staff of volunteerswe are approximately between 450 to 500 volunteers And they still enter more because there is an academy annually for volunteers That it started now in April, “he said.
“That they know that we are there, that they know the population that has a Body of firefighters That is for them, that we are for them, we are trained, to support us, to continue giving us the respect they give us, “was their final request.
