Welcome to Firefighters Crossing Borders
Firefighters Crossing Borders is a USA based non-profit organization founded by Firefighters for Firefighters.
Our members are active and retired Firefighters, medical personnel, and skilled citizens from the USA, Canada, and Mexico, all working to assist our brother and sister Firefighters and other Emergency response agencies in Mexico.
Our goal is to bring advanced training, equipment, and vehicles to departments desiring assistance throughout Mexico.
FFCB has developed relationships with several cities and emergency service groups in the USA, Canada, Mexico and the world over.
Baja, Sinaloa, Nayarit and Jalisco remain our primary mission states in Mexico; although we are now associated with other groups that are working around the world in places like Haiti, Japan, South America and Europe.
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How We Got Started
Firefighters Crossing Borders (FFCB) was founded in 2000 by Joel Schwarz a Firefighter in Gig Harbor, WA. Joel was on a vacation/mission with his wife in Mexico when he decided to visit some of the local fire houses. He was shocked at the lack of PPE (personal protective equipment) and its poor condition. Joel met with some of the local fire chiefs in these small departments and forged a bond and promised to come back with better gear for his brothers and sisters. Thus FFCB was born. The following year Joel and a few other fellow Gig Harbor Firefighters collected used turnout gear, SCBA's, helmets, and boots that their department was no longer using and drove down in their own cars. During the same trip, firefighters and medical workers also received operational fire ground training as well. “It’s about firefighters helping their brothers and sisters,” says Joel, “I believe they truly appreciated our efforts” he added.
Since then, FFCB, has grown and developed relationships with several cities and emergency service groups though out Mexico and the World. Due to your generosity we provide equipment and apparatus no longer usable in the US, but able to continue saving lives elsewhere.
Baja, Sinaloa, Jalisco and Nayarit remain our primary mission States, although we are now associated with other groups that are working around the world in places like Haiti, Japan, South America and Europe .
We are working hard to bring area departments together to share resources and we are continually building our instructor group using interested and qualified firefighters and specialists from fire departments throughout the USA, Canada and Mexico currently.
