Joel Schwarz

Executive Board Director

Joel is a retired Firefighter Paramedic/Lieutenant for the Gig Harbor Fire and Medic On In Washington State. Originally beginning his career in Chicago Illinois and then spending several years working in Southern California, 31 years ago he began working in Gig Harbor, Washington.  In the over 37 years of service he has worked with and trained many Firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics and since the beginning of Firefighters Crossing Borders.org, he's brought that knowledge, experience and energy to this effort.

In 1999 while visiting Mexico through a church mission, he developed a friendship with Captain Franco Soliz of the Tecate City Fire Department. The following year he came back with a pickup truck of equipment and another fellow firefighter. The success of that trip is what jump started what today is a growing organization with members, instructors and participating departments from around the world.

Being able to go home to your family after the end of a shift or tour is the goal of every Firefighter and emergency service provider. Our overriding motivation is to help make sure that what ever we do we work toward that goal. 

Scott Booth

Board Director

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Marcelo DeCasas

Board Director / Region 1 Representative

Marcelo is a Firefighter and a Binational Liaison for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.  He is also Vice-President of Bomberos de San Diego, a non-profit firefighter organization which also assists firefighters in Mexico.  He grew up in Tijuana, Mexico where his fire service career began in 1994 with the Tijuana Fire Department as a Volunteer Firefighter.  This provided him with first-hand knowledge of the public safety and infrastructural needs in Mexico that affect firefighters at an operational level.

Brian Singleton

Board Director / Region 2 Representative

After 30 years of service Brian retired from Vancouver Fire & Rescue as Assistant Chief and five years later moved full time to Nuevo Vallarta in 2003. He began working with Puerto Vallarta and Bahia de Banderas Civil Proteccion y Bomeros in 2008 and went on to coordinate the first Regional Training Event in 2010. Brian joined forces with Firefighters Crossing Borders later that year and became a Regional Representative. He works closely with local community partners and manages program development with Jordan Pollack. He is co-director of the Rotary Fire World Community Service Project and co-fonder and manager of WebFire Training LLC, a California based e-learning company which provides OSHA safety courses to hotel workers world wide.

Jordan Pollack

Board Director / Region 2 Representative​

Jordan became involved with Firefighters Crossing Borders in 2008 coordinating a 4 day truck company operations program in the capital city of Culiacan, Sinaloa. Firefighters and officers from Culiacan and Mazatlan attended that year, the first of what has now become an annual fire-rescue symposium bringing participants from every department in the state. Through his work with Firefighters Crossing Borders Jordan initiated a major development program in 2010 for the towns of Sayulita and San Pancho, Nayarit. Born in the name of a colleague Zack Chambers who lost his life while swimming in the waters off Saylita, Jordan along with Zacks wife Nya created the Zachary Chambers Foundation. This non-profit group is focused on development and support of emergency services for that remote area. During the first major lifeguard mission in 2010 Brian and Jordan met and began working together on the larger Bahia de Banderas and Puerto Vallarta area. Within a short time they created Region 2 of Firefighters Crossing Borders that encompasses the states of Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, and Colima. Jordan continues to coordinate the annual fire-rescue training symposium in Sinaloa along with an annual lifeguard school in Sayulita and manages the region with Brian. He serves as fire chief for the Breitenbush Fire Department in central Oregon and owns a fire training-consulting business in the Pacific Northwest. 

Edgar Ramirez Tellez

Board Director ​

A native of Mexico City, Mexico Edgar joined the US fire service in 1998. Working as a Firefighter/Paramedic for the City of Montebello (CA) for four years, he ultimately intergraded to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin to be closer to his wife’s family. Edgar continues to serve today as a Firefighter/Paramedic for Fond du Lac, joining Firefighters Crossing Borders in 2008 as one of five instructors heading to the State of Sinaloa to run truck company operations. For ten years following, Edgar remained a key member of the Sinaloa training cadre which expanded quickly to create a statewide fire-rescue training symposium. He also joined other instructors for a number of years in the states of Jalisco and Nayarit conducting fire, rescue, EMS, and lifeguard training. In 2020 Edgar became a member of the board of directors for Firefighters Crossing Borders and today remains very active in numerous states throughout Mexico supporting firefighters with training, equipment, and vehicles.